NEW YORK, April 5 (UPI) -- U.S. investigators are probing the National Park Service's dealings with a group it relied on to raise money for reopening the Statue of Liberty.
The inspector general of the Interior Department is investigating how the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation spent donations it raised for the monument, the New York Times reported Monday.
The inquiry will also explore why the foundation did not spend more of the money it already had for the reopening, instead of mounting a separate fund-raising campaign that has collected nearly $7 million from corporations, the public and Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, who contributed $100,000 of his own money.
"We want to know, why do you have to solicit $100,000 from Mike Bloomberg when you're sitting on $30 million?" said one official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Officials at the foundation and the Park Service did not respond to messages seeking comment Sunday.
