NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL OFFICE OF INVESTIGATIONS CLOSEOUT MEMORANDUM 11 Case Number: 105080035 11 Page 1 of 1 The National Science Foundation Office of Inspector General, Office of Investigations undertook a proactive review of foreign travel and participant support expenditures in various awards made under the U.S.-Egypt Joint Science and TechnologyFunds program. A preliminary review of financial records for one such award1revealed questionable charges requiring hrther investigation. Queries to the institution2and coordinationwith the program officerestablished that travel by the principal investigator3and others to various domestic locations for conferences, and to foreign destinations other than Egypt, during a no-cost extension period had not been cleared in advance with the program officer and could not be sufficiently connected to the objectives of the award to justifl retroactive approval. The investigation also established lapses in documentation, miscellaneous charging errors, and violations of the institution's policy regarding travel expenses, particularly its ban on rental car optional insurance. Although the institution differed with OIG and the program officer on the propriety of the questioned domestic and foreign travel and the need for prior approval, it ultimately agreed to return the questioned charges and associated indirect costs to NSF.~ Accordingly, this case is closed. I' NSF OIG Form 2 (1 1/02)
Admin. Financial Violations (PI/PS)
Published by the National Science Foundation, Office of Inspector General on 2006-10-10.
Below is a raw (and likely hideous) rendition of the original report. (PDF)