WASHINGTON – The Department of Justice announced Friday that the University of Florida 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 for salary and administrative costs on hundreds of federal grants.
The grants in question were administered from the University of Florida campuses that are in Gainesville and Jacksonville, according to the DOJ.
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"The monies utilized by HHS to fund important medical research and clinical programs across the nation are both precious and limited," said principal deputy assistant attorney general Benjamin Mizer, head of the Justice Department's Civil Division. "Today's settlement demonstrates that the Department of Justice will pursue grantees that knowingly divert those funds from the projects for which they were provided."
The DOJ said the University of Florida receives millions of dollars in funding from HHS for hundreds of grants each year.
The settlement resolves the alleged misuse of grant funds awarded by HHS to the university between 2005 and December 2010. The DOJ said the U.S. contended that the university overcharged hundreds of grants for the salary costs of its employees, and it did not have documentation to support the level of effort claimed on the grants for those employees.
The government also contended that the university charged some of the grants for administrative costs for equipment and supplies when those items should not have been directly charged to the grants under federal regulations, according to the DOJ.
The University of Florida allegedly inflated costs charged to HHS grants awarded at its Jacksonville campus for services performed by an affiliated entity, Jacksonville Healthcare Inc., the DOJ said.
"As the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services awards more grant dollars than any other government agency, prudent oversight of those funds is absolutely essential," HHS regional inspector general for audit Lori Pilcher said. "Grantees must have internal controls promoting accountability and transparency. Taxpayers should expect nothing less."