Federal prosecutors are investigating the finances of the president of the City College of New York and her family, as well as those of a nonprofit foundation affiliated with the institution, according to the college and a lawyer’s letter obtained by The New York Times on Thursday.

The Times reported in May that City College’s 21st Century Foundation had paid for some personal expenses of the president, Lisa S. Coico, such as fruit baskets, housekeeping services and rugs when she took office in 2010. The foundation was then reimbursed for more than $150,000 from the Research Foundation of the City University of New York, which manages research funds for the CUNY system, the largest urban public university in the country.

That arrangement raised concerns among some experts in government and nonprofit ethics because such funds are typically earmarked for research. And now, the United States attorney for the Eastern District of New York is taking a closer look.