Georgia Tech suspended four employees without pay after an internal audit found evidence of possible malfeasance, officials announced Monday.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation executed search warrants on campus and at two residences off-campus Monday in connection with the investigation, spokesman John Bankhead said.
Tech's Department of Internal Auditing found evidence of the possible misappropriation of resources from the college's Georgia Electronic Design Center to benefit a company co-owned by two of the suspended employees, spokesman Matt Nagel said.
Joy Laskar, former director of the center, and Stephane Pinel, a faculty member and researcher, are co-owners of Sayana Wireless, LLC, Nagel said. Two other staff members -- Chris Evans, director of operations at the center, and Amanda Scacchitti, a program coordinator at the center, -- were also suspended without pay until the investigation is completed, he said.
None of the four could be reached for comment.
Tech's investigation began in December after the Georgia Tech Research Corporation noticed cost overruns with the center and asked internal auditors to investigate, Nagel said. The total amount of the suspected malfeasance is under review, he said.
The internal auditing department submitted a five-page draft report Friday. The document listed misappropriation of funds and multiple misuses of Tech equipment, offices and laboratories. The report says Laskar misrepresented his relationship with Sayana on conflict of interest statements for the past four years, saying he was an adviser when he was the company president and CEO.
Bankhead said the investigation will be "on-going for some time."
The Georgia Electronic Design Center's research focuses on the chips that make computers, cell phones and other electronic devices possible. Mark Allen, senior vice provost for research and innovation, has been named acting director of the center.
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