NEW YORK, April 5 (UPI) -- Alleged improprieties by the U.S. National Park Service's foundation to reopen the Statue of Liberty is being investigated, the New York Times reported.
The Interior Department is looking into how the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation has spent donations and whether it followed guidelines for competitive bidding, the newspaper reported Monday.
The federal department will also investigate why the foundation didn't use the money it already had to reopen the monument, rather than mount a separate fundraising campaign that pulled in $7 million, including $100,000 from New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
"We want to know, why do you have to solicit $100,000 from Mike Bloomberg when you're sitting on $30 million?" said an official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The congressional watchdog, General Accounting Office, has been also asked to start its own review of the foundation.
