Posted by Serkan Saka.
Have you ever thought how important it is for universities to receive government research support? As we know that reputation is also very important for all the universities. Columbia University one of the best universities in the world and a top university for medical research. Recently, however, Columbia requested research funds from National Institutes of Health (NIH) for medical research but was caught in related fraudulent activity.
According to Danielle Douglas-Gabriel’s article in The Washington Post, Columbia’s research costs were lower than what they actually received from NIH. One of the reasons is that Columbia University conducted their research off campus, but misinformed NIH that the research would be conducted on campus, which would make the research more expensive. After government investigation, Columbia University will pay $9.5 million to NIH to cover false charges (Douglas- Gabriel, 2016).
The school officially released a statement by Caroline Adelman, a spokeswoman says, “The government disagreed with the university’s approach and took the position that a lower indirect cost rate was appropriate.”(Douglas-Gabriel, 2016). On the other side the NIH’s statement says “ Money gained by such behavior deprives other research programs of funds that could yield life-altering new treatments”(Douglas-Gabriel, 2016). It is very important to inform correctly in any case. It is not important if you are a big institution or small business, as either could be involved in white-collar crime.
Serkan is a MS accounting student in Feliciano School of Business, Montclair State University, Class of 2018.
Source:
Douglas-Gabriel, Danielle. (2016, July 14). [Columbia University to pay $9.5 million to Settle Fraud Charges]. The Washington Post. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2016/07/14/columbia- university-to-pay-9-5-million-to-settle-fraud-charges/?utm_term=.f974cc316f05