Washington (CNN) Duke University will pay the US government $112.5 million to settle allegations of falsifying research in order to obtain millions of dollars in federal grants, the Department of Justice announced Monday.

Duke is accused of "submitting applications and progress reports that contained falsified research on federal grants to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)," violating the False Claims Act, according to a Justice Department news release.

The settlement revolves around allegations that between 2006 and 2018 Duke "knowingly submitted and caused to be submitted claims to the NIH and to the EPA that contained falsified or fabricated data or statements in 30 grants," according to the department.

"This settlement sends a strong message that fraud and dishonesty will not be tolerated in the research funding process," EPA Acting Region 4 Administrator Mary S. Walker said in a statement.

A former Duke employee, Joseph Thomas, originally brought the allegations in a lawsuit under the whistleblower provision of the False Claims Act, according to the Justice Department, and will receive $33,750,000 from the settlement.

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