Jail Time, Restitution Ordered for Former Research Scientist Convicted of Federal Grant Fraud
On October 21, 2008, a former research recipient convicted of intentionally misapplying federal grant funds was sentenced to a combined 15 months' in prison and home detention and ordered to pay $120,000 in restitution.
Daniel B. Karron, president and chief technical officer of Computer-Aided Surgery, Inc., (CASI) had received a $2 million Advanced Technology Program (ATP) grant from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in October 2001. The grant was payable over 3 years in increments of approximately $800,000 per year for specific use in designated research.
In 2003, NIST requested an audit by OIG because Karron had submitted several mismatching versions of his actual grant costs in required reports. The OIG Office of Audits examined Karron's use of the grant funds from 2001 to 2003, found he had not been spending the money properly, and NIST suspended the grant. OIG's Office of Investigations later determined that Karron, 52, had spent approximately $500,000 of the ATP grant funds to pay for numerous personal expenses, including rent, home renovations, cleaning services for his condominium, restaurant meals, and miscellaneous household items.
In delivering the sentence, U.S. District Judge Robert Patterson stated it is crucial that grant recipients face serious criminal consequences for committing fraud. This case was OIG's first conviction at trial for a fraud case involving research grants made by NIST's Advanced Technology Program.
Jail Time, Restitution Ordered for Former Research Scientist Convicted of Federal Grant Fraud
