The National Science Foundation has suspended millions of dollars in research grants to the University of Connecticut after revelations that two UConn professors used more than $250,000 in grant money for no-bid purchases of equipment from a company they control.
The professors, founders of Aquatic Sensor Network Technology LLC, a marine sensor and communication technology firm in Storrs, used NSF funds to purchase 15 specialized acoustic modems from their company, according to a report by the state Auditors of Public Accounts.
In two of three purchase requisitions, faculty members with a stake in the company, known as AquaSeNT, signed a form that included the statement: “I certify that I have no financial or other beneficial interest in the vendor.” The suspension and expenditure restrictions will remain in effect until otherwise notified by NSF.”
UConn spokeswoman Stephanie Reitz said in a statement that the school would have blocked the modem purchases if the UConn employees “had disclosed their conflicts of interest as principals in the company from which the items were purchased.”
She said the university has since prevented the professors from obtaining new grants and removed them from other grants, and has strengthened internal reviews and controls. In a letter to the governor Friday, the auditors said UConn failed to promptly alert the auditors as required by law, and said the university initially responded to inquiries in February by claiming that the federal investigation only involved funds granted directly to AquaSeNT.
“The agency did not disclose to our office that this matter involved funds administered by UConn until we made it clear to UConn that we were already aware that it did,” auditors John C. He also said UConn officials should have procedures in place that would have allowed the university to discover the financial conflict of interest.
“We are concerned that state procurement laws were not followed, and that once UConn officials found out the accounts were frozen, they didn’t report it to us,” Geragosian said.
In the UConn statement, Reitz said the university and the auditors “have a difference of opinion about the timing of reporting” that is mandated when state agencies discover financial problems.
“UConn’s understanding of the statute is that reporting is required when allegations have been investigated and wrongdoing has been confirmed,” the statement said. “With this matter still under investigation by multiple agencies including but not limited to NSF and UConn the issue remains unresolved about whether allegations, in the absence of a conclusion, trigger the reporting requirement.”
The specific law requires alerting the auditors of “any unauthorized, illegal, irregular or unsafe handling or expenditure of state or quasi-public agency funds or breakdowns in the safekeeping of any other resources of the state or quasi-public agencies or contemplated action to do the same within their knowledge.”
The National Science Foundation has 230 active grants to the UConn, worth nearly $90 million.
