the US government may have paid twice for grants it doled out to fund research at labs in Wuhan, China, according to a newly launched federal probe that found tens of millions of dollars in potentially fraudulent payments.
The “risky” projects bankrolled by the National Institutes of Health and the US Agency for International Development would have helped pay for medical supplies, equipment, travel expenses and salaries at the Wuhan labs, according to CBS News, which broke the story Monday.
Among them was the Wuhan Institute of Virology, where taxpayers funded controversial gain-of-function research on bat coronaviruses that federal officials now admit may have led to the COVID-19 pandemic.
An investigator hired by Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) first discovered the allegedly fraudulent funding from NIH and USAID, CBS News reported, and her findings prompted an internal probe by an inspector general.
“What I’ve found so far is evidence that points to double billing, potential theft of government funds,” Diane Cutler, who said she reviewed 50,000 documents on the matter, told “CBS News Mornings.”
“It is concerning, especially since it involves dangerous pathogens and risky research.”
