l 8 . Closeout - RDT NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATiON Page 1 of 2 -1 4201 WILSON BOULEVARD ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA 22230 I: :, I 1 OFflCEOF INSPECTOR GENERAL ~i ,I MEMORANDUM I li I Date: August 27,1998 , .. - ... ...** . -. . -. . .. . --. i To: File No. I96100055 11 From: pecial Agent, Investigatio I / Through: Special Agent-in-Charge, In I, 1 Re:' /I I I! Backmound: In October 1996,our office received a memo from an NSF program officer (PO) stating his concerns over the legitimacy of a company to which NSF awarded an SBIR Phase I attempted to contact the company concerning information that was omitted in their proposal. After several unsuccessful attempts, the PO number in Vancouver, Canada which also belonged company that provided a letter of commitment for awaid. h e PO referred a memo to OIG because of the following reasons: I Our office investigated to determine i - n d / o m were legitimate companies, if , they were domestic or foreign, and whether or not they had committed any fraudulent I I activities pertaining to their federal awards. ! Investieation: /I A Lexis and FinCEN query reveale company, is the parent company fo incorporated in the United States. Closeout -: Page 2 of 2 1 I (I has absorbed both was at least a 5 1%American owned company at the time it il 1 ~0th.) an-have received SBIR awards from other federal agencies. Ispoke with ~ ,r- . I the PI on the She worked a m f o r 1 1 ?hyears and left the c pany in 1 9 9 5 . said her two months of salary. '1 She did not know I current location, but thought, - IL. She i also said that she t h o u g h a d changed its name t dother-ploy_e_e_s appcared~ohave (at least foger) affiliations -- - on -d the University of I via a subcontract. I reviewed the subcontract ameement 1 ' .facilities an- u and found no evidence that contradicts what was listed in the proposal or told to me by witnesses. I1 I I interviewed various other individuals affiliated w i t h n d reviewed other SBIR proposals and reports for these companies, and found no evidence of fraud. j i Conclusions: il I li mand Although there is no additional information to clarify the exact relationship between the time it applie it appears that-was a domestic company at funds. Despite the questioned legitimacy of the I( companies from such factors as the abrupt change of address, the unclear relationship I between the subsidiaries and parent companies, and the inability to locate some former employees, we have not obtained any evidence of fraud or other criminal acts. /I ; This case is closed pending further information. 'I I
SBIR
Published by the National Science Foundation, Office of Inspector General on 1998-09-15.
Below is a raw (and likely hideous) rendition of the original report. (PDF)