Dr. Michael Harrington and his company Genoverde Bioscience, Inc., have agreed on Apr. 6 to pay $152,500 to the United States to resolve allegations of submitting false claims under National Science Foundation grants and Payment Protection Program loans.
The settlement addresses concerns about the misuse of government funds intended for research and small business support. Authorities said Genoverde made duplicative expense claims under federal grants and improperly sought PPP loans as well as loan forgiveness. The research funded by these grants included work on harvesting industrial hemp and trees.
“Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) awards are highly competitive grants intended to fund American-owned small businesses to conduct research that will lead to the commercialization of innovative new products and services,” said Megan E. Wallace, NSF’s Acting Inspector General. “The NSF Office of Inspector General is committed to ensuring the integrity of NSF’s SBIR grant program by holding accountable those who choose to engage in false claims and misrepresentation schemes. We appreciate the efforts of the Department of Justice in pursuing this matter and will continue to vigorously pursue oversight of taxpayer funds devoted to scientific research.”
According to officials, the False Claims Act requires that any money falsely obtained be repaid at triple damages along with significant penalties for each false claim submitted. In this case, civil claims were resolved through a settlement agreement without a judicial determination or admission of liability.
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina worked with the NSF Office of Inspector General on this case, with Assistant United States Attorney Neal Fowler representing the government.
