Paterno listed on Sport Institute board

SOUTH KINGSTOWN, RI (WPRI) - The late Joe Paterno was listed as an Institute for International Sport board of trustees member on at least 3 recent Internal Revenue Service 990 forms filed by the Institute.

The embattled organization remains under investigation by Rhode Island State Police which launched its probe in February following a state audit late last year. The audit indicated the I.I.S. could not account for two thirds of a 2007 General Assembly legislative grant for $575,000.

The grant was supposed to help build the Institute's International Leadership building which remains an empty shell on land that was leased from U.R.I. in Kingston.

I.R.S. filings by the Institute from 2007 to 2009 listed the members of the organization's board of trustees. Daniel Doyle is at the top as the Executive Director. and Joseph V. Paterno is listed as a board member in each of those 3 years.

The NCAA has stripped 14 years of wins from the legendary coach's record for his and Penn State's roll in concealing child molestation committed by former Nittany Lion assistant coach Jerry Sandusky. Among the other sanctions, the football power was fined $60 million and ordered to sit out the post season for 4 years.

A source tells Target 12, investigators believe the name on the I.R.S. 990 forms is meant to represent the legendary coach although the source said it is unknown if Joseph Vincent Paterno ever knew he was named as a board member.

This isn’t the first question about someone who was said to be an Institute board member.

In March, Target 12 learned that a signature next to Doyle's on a 2011 state grant document did not belong to Michael Healy who was said to be the Institute's board chairman. Healy who lives in Ireland said he was never on the board and identified the signature as a forgery.

Another person who asked not to be identified by Target 12 said while they were listed as a board member on the 990 forms, they were not on the board.

State Police Colonel Steven O'Donnell would not comment on Paterno's possible connection to the Institute but did tell us the investigation into how taxpayer money was spent continues to have the full attention of his white collar crime unit.

“We are continuing to follow through with interviews, re-interviews and documents. There's a lot of volume to it,” O’Donnell said.

Target 12 reached out to the spokesperson for the Institute but she could not verify whether or not Paterno ever attended an Institute board meeting or knew he was listed as a member of the board.

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