Federal investigators said high-ranking administrators at the New York State Museum in Albany directed a subordinate to falsify time sheets, allowing the state to improperly draw down $597,624 in federal grants from 2020 to 2022.
The findings were published in a summary of an investigation conducted by the U.S. Department of Interior’s Office of Inspector General, after reporting by The New York Times about the fraud allegations.
The Times reported in late 2024 that a former payroll employee at the museum, Brian Slater, had accused a manager of directing him to submit false time sheets as part of a ploy to bilk federal funds from the U.S. Geological Survey and that high-ranking state officials had “supported” the fraud.
The investigation, which the inspector general’s office did in conjunction with the New York State comptroller, Thomas P. DiNapoli, focused on whether state grant administrators had compelled a museum employee to “fraudulently overreport” his work on a Geological Survey mapping project in order to qualify for federal grants.
“We substantiated the allegations,” the summary report says. The investigation determined that state museum administrators “instructed their employees to submit inaccurate time sheets reflecting inflated levels of involvement” in the program and improperly reallocated funds to pay staff salaries.
Investigators delivered the report to the director of the U.S. Geological Survey, which falls under the Interior Department, so he could pursue “the potential collection of lost revenues and any other action deemed appropriate,” the report said.
The report comes almost three years after the New York State Education Department, which oversees the museum, quickly closed its own investigation after declaring it unsubstantiated, records obtained by The Times show.
“It is not possible to conclude that there is mismanagement or fraud,” the internal state report said.
The state Education Department has acknowledged the overall findings by the Office of Inspector General. An Education department spokesman, JP O’Hare, said the agency was “fully transparent and cooperative throughout this process,” adding that officials were “prepared to reimburse any grant funding ultimately determined not to have been supported by the required state match.”
Mr. Slater said in a statement to The Times that he suspected that state officials would be more willing to repay what was owed to Washington rather than directly punish those implicated in the fraud.
“While repaying funds may address the financial impact on U.S.G.S., it does not address the harm done to museum employees who were pressured into participation for fear of job loss,” Mr. Slater said. “More importantly, allowing individuals implicated in proven wrongdoing to face no meaningful consequences will only further undermine staff morale and institutional credibility.”
Matt Sweeney, a spokesman for the state comptroller, referred questions about any recoupment of revenue to federal authorities, but said their joint investigation “found that the museum had illegitimately billed the grant for nearly $600,000 in hours spent by employees on other projects.”
John T. McDonald III, a state assemblyman whose district includes parts of Albany County, said the Education Department must identify any gaps in oversight to “prevent this from happening again.”
Mr. McDonald said the report was a reminder of how far the museum fell into disrepair and bureaucratic mismanagement — a chapter he thinks the state is finally moving past thanks to Gov. Kathy Hochul’s plans to renovate parts of downtown Albany.
Ms. Hochul and education officials are embarking on a $150 million renovation of the museum as part of that renovation, and Mr. McDonald said he was encouraged by what he has heard from both leaders and rank-and-file employees, even as he worries that internal accountability measures need to be strengthened.
“We’re on the dawn of a new era with the museum,” he said. “What you’re bringing to light is really — I’d like to think — a remnant of the past.”
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