The FBI has joined the investigation into the Harrisburg School District and has begun interviewing employees and former employees, PennLive has learned.

Two sources confirmed that federal agents have been conducting interviews for the past week and a half. The sources, who asked to remain anonymous because they are not authorized to speak about the investigation, said a Pennsylvania State Police officer and a federal agent were working together to interview people, starting with people who worked in the school district’s business office.

The Attorney General’s office already had been investigating the loss of several computers from the business office amid a mass firing of school district leaders in June as the state took over the troubled district.

But the confirmation of the involvement of the FBI indicates that the investigation is broader than the missing computers. The FBI’s website says public corruption is their top criminal investigative priority and that the agency:

Investigates potential violations of federal law by public officials at the federal, state, and local levels of government; and

Oversees the nationwide investigation of allegations of fraud related to federal government procurement, contracts, and federally funded programs.

The Attorney General’s office on Thursday confirmed it has not relinquished its investigation to the federal agency.

“This is a joint investigation and we are still involved,” said Jacklin Rhoads, a spokeswoman for the Attorney General’s office.

The district’s new acting superintendent, John George, said he could not comment on any possible investigation.

“Our primary responsibility, and the focus of our work, is to restore the academic and financial health of the school district,” he said. “In so doing, we will cooperate with law enforcement agencies that seek to hold accountable those who are responsible for the plight of the Harrisburg School District.”

The Attorney General’s office got involved with the district in July after several computers and scores of documents went missing as former Superintendent Sybil Knight-Burney, former Business Manager Bilal Hasan, former Solicitor James Ellison and other district leaders were fired and new state-appointed leaders took over.

The state takeover was prompted, in part, by the former district leaders’ refusal to provide access to the district’s electronic finance system for a state audit.

The district’s former leaders eventually relented when the state yanked $11 million in funding. The completed audit later revealed more than $5 million in questionable spending over three years, based on just a fraction of the district’s documents and programs that auditors reviewed.

More than a third of the contracts reviewed by auditors showed that the contractor, often retired district employees, had been paid more than the board-approved contract allowed.

In addition, the report confirmed 132 terminated employees were getting free continuous health benefits, which is more than double the amount previously thought and represented a loss of more than $800,000.

The district also potentially paid more than $900,000 to substitute service agencies for work that wasn’t performed.

Many of the contractors and some of the employees paid through the substitute service agencies were paid with federal money.

George previously confirmed to PennLive that documents supporting spending from federal programs had disappeared from the business office. The district spends about $13 million annually from federal funds.

The district is required by law to retain supporting documentation used to receive federal dollars.

A Right-to-Know request for a list of employees paid through federal grants revealed the district didn’t have that basic list or any supporting documentation for federal programs.

“Going through the records, there are no records,” George previously told PennLive. “The records for federal programs don’t exist.”

Not only were federal program files missing, Hasan’s office was empty of paperwork, worksheets or documentation, sources told PennLive. Even binders on shelves were emptied of papers.

On Thursday, Hasan’s father answered the phone at one of Hasan’s homes and asked why PennLive was calling. When a reporter said it was about the FBI investigation, the father said: “I can’t talk to you anything about that,” and hung up.

Knight-Burney could not be reached for comment despite numerous text messages sent to her cell phone. Calls to the phone would not go through.

Prior to the state audit earlier this year, the district already had a shaky track record with regard to federal programs. Previous annual audits dating back to 2010 cited federal programs as an area of serious concern. Employees were wrongly paid from federal grants, paperwork wasn’t completed to prove employees actually worked on grant-approved projects and required quarterly reports weren’t submitted, according to the audits.

Repeated problems in audits, missing documentation and a lack of internal controls are all considered risks for fraud, according to the federal Office of Inspector General, which investigates potential mishandling of federal money.

Violators can face civil fines and penalties or criminal convictions.

The district’s poor performance in providing required documentation for federal programs in recent years prompted the state to start restricting federal money.

Starting last school year, the district could no longer get advances on federal grants. Instead, the district must spend its own money first, then submit receipts and documentation for reimbursement with federal money.

When school started in August this year, the district’s new leaders feared they might lose nearly $5 million in federal reimbursements because of the missing records. But newly hired financial experts have exhaustively searched district offices and systems where they found individual invoices and purchase orders to close most of the gap, George said, assuming the documentation is accepted by the state.

But, he said, there could be $1 million that can’t be collected.

READ: Fired Harrisburg school employees won’t get buyouts: district officials

READ: Will Harrisburg School District go after former superintendent for salary ‘overpayments'?

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