UW Audit Uncovers Problems

State Auditor Brian Sonntag issued an audit report Wednesday identifying numerous problems at the University of Washington ranging from fraud and falsified records to inadequate procedures on federal grants.

The 60-page audit, which covers the period from July 1, 1993, through June 30, 1994, listed 23 findings and a variety of recommendations. They included strengthening accounting and administrative controls, establishing policies and procedures and seeking recovery of misappropriated and improperly spent money.

The university said in a statement that it has reviewed Sonntag’s report and already has acted to improve financial controls, rectify identified problems and in some cases pursue legal remedies.

“The University of Washington is one of the largest state agencies and receives the largest amount of research dollars in the nation,” Sonntag said in a statement. “With an institution of this size there will be problem areas. We need to work with the university to identify and correct problems and help prevent future ones from occurring.”

A majority of the findings related to the university’s Primate Research Center, where misuse of funds exceeded $80,000.

He said there were fictitious claims charged to federal research grants and payroll records were falsified so students working at the center could improperly receive tuition and additional stipend payments.

The report said four students were placed on the payroll and paid before they actually began work at the center and that payroll records were falsified to make the starting dates appear earlier than they actually were.

In addition, the report said, fictitious travel expense records were created and reimbursements made for trips that never occurred to cover moving expenses of three employees and tuition for a fourth staff member.

The report also said the center’s former director used grant funds to purchase prescription drugs and improperly gave the drugs to a foreign scientist, who was unable to obtain them in his country.

In another section, the report said university policies on conflict of interest were not followed at the center where an employee held a financial interest in a private company that purchased surplus primates from the center.

The center, the report stated, also accrued unallowable costs charged to its federal grant.

The inappropriate costs, the report stated, included a visiting foreign scientist to make more than $2,000 in personal long-distance calls to his home and that staff members also improperly exchanged coffee with employees of local medical laboratories for tonsil tissue from patients. The tissue was a source of blood needed for primate research.