This is a breaking story and will be updated.
The New York State Museum, through falsified time sheets and unapproved proposal updates, improperly drew $597,624 in federal grant funds between 2020 and 2022, per an investigation by federal officials with the New York State Comptroller.
The report, issued by the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Office of Inspector General, details how grants issued by the United States Geological Survey for its state-level geologic mapping program, STATEMAP, were abused. The grants were one-to-one matching fund grants, meaning the museum was responsible for matching what was awarded. Per the museum’s submitted budget narrative, necessary for the grant proposal, it stated the museum would be responsible for the salaries and travel expenses for employees working on the project and supply costs.
But the Office of Inspector General found museum officials directed employees, including a former education specialist, to submit time sheets inflating hours spent working on STATEMAP projects. The museum also submitted the salaries of two employees not working under the grant. These fraudulent reports allowed the museum to improperly withdraw its federal grant funds.
Additionally, the investigation found the museum altered key components of its grant proposal without receiving approval from the United States Geological Survey, which was a violation of the terms of the grant. These changes included changing the key personnel referenced in the proposal and reallocating field expense funds to pay staff salaries.
The federal investigation began in 2024, following a New York Times report detailing fraud allegations brought forth by Brian Slater, a former museum employee, in October 2024. The New York Times first reported on the investigation’s findings.
The timeline of the misused funds aligns with the tenure of Mark Schaming, the former director of the New York State Museum and deputy commissioner of the Office of Cultural Education who retired following a cancer diagnosis in July 2024. His era of leadership included the creation of the acclaimed 9/11 exhibition, repeated failures to deliver on museum renewal promises and allegations of mismanagement.
In April 2025, while the museum was under interim leadership amid its search for a new director, the state acknowledged the museum failed to meet its matching requirement for the fiscal year 2022 grant cycle and addressed $40,511 of the improperly drawn funds, per the Office of Inspector General’s report. The state also changed how employees reported time spent on fiscal year 2022 STATEMAP projects, as the money allocated through these grants was considered two-year funds that could be used through 2024. The Office of Inspector General confirmed this change.
The Office of Inspector General submitted its findings to the United States Geological Survey “for the potential collection of lost revenues and any other action deemed appropriate.” It additionally presented the report to the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York, which declined to prosecute the museum “in deference to administrative action and recovery by USGS.”
The report comes at a time of change for the museum. Jennifer Saunders, its new director, is approaching one year of leading the institution. The first phase of a $150 million renewal – backed by a state intervention led by Gov. Kathy Hochul – is underway, including a revived cafe and gift shop, assembly of the task force leading the renewal vision, an expanded exhibition schedule and the opening of its new Kids Zone.
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This article originally published at New York State Museum abused nearly $600K in grants, per federal investigation.