Did Wayne State University scam the federal government out of more than $169 million in research grant money through inflated salary claims, phony surgical supply requests and claims it paid $1,000 each for lab rats that cost a fraction of that?
That's what a whistle blower lawsuit claims in U.S. District Court in Detroit, according to Tresa Baldas of the Detroit Free Press.
The suit was filed in 2012 but was just unsealed last month, the Freep reports. The whistleblower is Christian Kreipke, 37, formerly of Grosse Pointe, a medical school professor who alleges he was fired from his $115,000 research job after he complained to WSU authorities about the suspected fraud.
The Freep reports that he alleges that for months he watched WSU lie on its grant proposals about the actual costs of research projects so that it could get more in grant money.
The lawsuit alleges the university duped the federal government by claiming costs:
■ $235,000 for 300 lab rats that actually cost $12-$80 apiece
■ $96,000 in inflated salaries for three lab technicians
■ $98,000 in inflated costs for surgical supplies
■ $150,000 for a researcher who did no work for it.
■ $790,000 for a research project that should have cost $140,000.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office is not intervening, but said in court documents that the government “remains a real party in interest” in the case and will monitor it from the sidelines.
The Freep reports that Wayne State issued a statement:
“The author of the litigation — an individual who was terminated from his employment for research-related misconduct — has attempted to challenge his termination multiple times using several approaches. Without exception, every such attempt has failed decisively. Should Wayne State be served with this latest claim, we will defend aggressively, and we are confident that it will result in dismissal, as have all of his earlier attempts.”
Wayne State has not been charged with any criminal wrongdoing, the Freep reports.
-- Allan Lengel
