by Ben Vernia | December 1st, 2015
On November 20, the Department of Justice announced that the University of Florida had agreed to settle civil allegations that it had mischarged the government for overhead costs on federal health grants, and will pay nearly $20 million. According to DOJ’s press release:
The University of Florida (UF) has agreed to pay the United States $19.875 million to settle allegations that the university improperly charged the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for salary and administrative costs on hundreds of federal grants, the Department of Justice announced today. The grants in question were administered from the UF campuses in Gainesville and Jacksonville, Florida.
* * *
The University of Florida receives millions of dollars in grant funding from HHS on hundreds of grants each year. The settlement announced today resolves the alleged misuse of grant funds awarded by HHS to UF between 2005 and December 2010. The United States contended that the university overcharged hundreds of grants for the salary costs of its employees, where it did not have documentation to support the level of effort claimed on the grants for those employees. The government also contended that UF charged some of these grants for administrative costs for equipment and supplies when those items should not have been directly charged to the grants under federal regulations. Lastly, UF allegedly inflated costs charged to HHS grants awarded at its Jacksonville campus for services performed by an affiliated entity, Jacksonville Healthcare Inc.
* * *
The case apparently arose from a government investigation, and not from a whistleblower’s suit.
