Sport Institute grant signature forged

KINGSTON, R.I. (WPRI) - A signature on the most recent Institute for International Sport state grant is now claimed to be a forgery, according to the man who purportedly signed his name on the document.

Michael Healy, who lives in Ireland, told a Connecticut newspaper he did not sign the document from last October that brought $157,500 in taxpayer money to the embattled Kingston non-profit. Target 12 had forwarded information about the grant agreement to The Hartford Courant last week.

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A signature above Healy’s typed name is next to the signature of embattled IIS Executive Director Daniel Doyle , whose signature appears twice on the Community Service Grant agreement with the Department of Administration.

Healy is listed as the chairman of the IIS Board of Trustees on the paperwork. After the State Police Investigation began five weeks ago, Healy stated that his involvement with the Institute was limited to attending meetings of what he called ‘an informal advisory body’.

“I am not, nor have I ever been, the chairperson of the Institute for International Sport,” Healy wrote in an email originally published by The Courant .

Target 12 contacted the public relations firm that now represents Dan Doyle to ask about Healy's signature and the characterization in the agreement that Michael Healy was the Chair of the Institute’s Board of Trustees. The response is brief.

“At this point in time, Mr. Doyle will have no further comment,” Liz White from Advocacy Solutions said.

The agreement details the grant that was paid to the IIS on October 18, 2011. According to interim state Auditor General Dennis Hoyle, the non-profit has received 33 state grants, totaling $7.3 million since 1988. Hoyle’s audit of the way the Institute accounted for one of those grants prompted the State Police probe.                                                    

The Atlantic Philanthropies, a New York based charitable organization told Target 12 it gave the Kingston non-profit $9.6 million in grants since 1989. Atlantic Philanthropies is mentioned in the 2010 and 2011 grant agreements in a direct quote about how 'productive' the Kingston non-profit has been with its grants. 

“Of the thousands of grants we have awarded, we look at our support of the Institute for International Sport as one of our top five,” Raymond Handlan from Atlantic Philanthropies was attributed with writing. “Not five percent – but top five in productivity.”

Target 12 sent the quote to the New York non-profit and received this written response .

“It is very clear that Mr. Doyle has mis-characterized much about his relationship with The Atlantic Philanthropies. We provided all information requested by the state's investigators related to their review of I.I.S.”

State police investigators told Target 12 that the results of the investigation is still weeks away.