The New York State Museum knowingly and improperly collected about $600,000 in federal funding, a report conducted by the Office of the Inspector General for the U.S. Department of the Interior found.
Investigators found that museum "officials instructed their employees to submit inaccurate timesheets" to inflate their work on projects being funded by the U.S. Geological Survey from 2020 to 2022. USGS paid half the hourly wages of museum employees for the time they spent on the project.
The museum charged the salaries of two employees who did not work under the grant, and another employee's federally funded salary couldn't be accounted for, according to the report.
The museum also made personnel and budget changes to the project without federal approval.
Investigators referred the matter to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of New York, which declined prosecution in favor of letting the Department of the Interior recover the funds.
A spokesperson for the USAO for the Northern District of New York did not respond to a request for comment.
The New York State Department of Education has been "fully transparent and cooperative" throughout the investigation, JP O'Hare, a department spokesperson, said in a statement. He added that the museum completed its work on the projects.
"To our knowledge, USGS was satisfied with the Department's performance under these grants prior to this matter," O'Hare said in his statement. "The Department has made clear that it is prepared to reimburse any grant funding ultimately determined not to have been supported by the required state match."
The report found that "the subsequent actions taken by the State only addressed $40,511 of the improper drawdowns."
The museum took "corrective action" to prevent further issues, according to O'Hare and the report.
The report comes months after New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced a $150 million dollar makeover of the museum. The first phase of the initiative includes new exhibits, a kids zone and the reopening of the museum café and gift shop.
The museum has had a new director, Jennifer Saunders, since September.
