Columbia University will pay the federal government $9.5 million for seeking and receiving excessive cost recoveries in connection with research grants funded by the National Institutes of Health (“NIH”). The Government asserts that between 2003 and 2015 Columbia fraudulently billed NIH by applying an on campus indirect cost rate instead of a much lower off campus cost rate. The Government alleged that Columbia did not disclose to NIH that it did not own or operate these facilities or pay for the use of the space during those years.
There were 423 grants which applied to the improper invoicing.
Jeffrey Newman represents whistleblowers but not those in this case.
