ROHNERT PARK (BCN) -- The Sonoma County District Attorney's Office and the FBI searched  the administrative offices of Sonoma State University Thursday morning as part of  an investigation into allegations of misuse of federal grant money.

District Attorney Stephan Passalacqua said the alleged misuse of  "tens of millions of dollars over a number of years" involves SSU's disbanded  California Institute on Human Services.

The institute was created in 1979 and was responsible for  obtaining state and federal grants for training and social service programs  including Head Start, adoption services and domestic violence programs.

"This case was initiated based on a complaint filed with the U.S.  Department of Health and Humans Services resulting from an internal 2007  audit of California Institute on Human Services," Passalacqua said.

Passalacqua said a task force of state and federal investigators  is analyzing "the voluminous amounts of documents associated with the alleged  misappropriation of as many as 20 separate state and federal grant funding  sources administrated by SSU."

Investigators from the U.S. Department of Health and Human  Services' Office of Inspector General served the warrants with the Sonoma  County District Attorney's Office and FBI around 9 a.m. today in Salazar  Hall. Some employees were sent home, an SSU employee said Thursday morning.

In a written statement, SSU President Ruben Arminana said the  search warrant pertains to a warehouse, a California Institute of Human  Services storage building and the administration and finances offices in  Salazar Hall.

Arminana said the investigation is focused on 20 grants originally  awarded to and administered by the CIHS.

"The university welcomes the investigation and is working in full  cooperation with the task force," Arminana said.

"The investigation is the result of a university police department  referral to the Sonoma County district attorney in 2008 surrounding issues  related to CIHS," he said.

The results of a California State University audit released in  October 2007 found nearly $2 million in un-reimbursable or questionable labor  and contracting expenditures by the institute.

The audit also found $520,000 in administrative payroll expenses  and $200,000 in contractual operating expenses that did not have identified  funding sources.

Additionally, it found questionable financial practices including  the award of $300,000 in federal grant money for three video programs without  competitive bidding. Another $600,000 from the same grant was spent on  improper labor costs, according to the audit.

The audit also disclosed that more than $280,000 in grant money  was paid to a former SSU employee who worked at My Home Inc., a CIHS project,  after that project concluded in 2000.

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