Harvard agrees to repay $1.3M for federal grant overcharges

Harvard University has agreed to pay more than $1.3 million to settle claims that a research team overcharged certain federal grants.

Federal prosecutors in Boston said in a statement Monday that the team at the T.H. Chan School of Public Health led by former professor Donna Spiegelman overcharged the government by about $1.3 million between 2009 and 2014.

Prosecutors said it overstated the time and effort members put into projects funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Health Resources & Services Administration.

The overcharges were self-reported by the university. Spiegelman denied wrongdoing in a statement released through her attorney.