WASHINGTON--Money intended for investigating health care fraud may have been misused by the FBI, according to a report by the Government Accountability Office.

The FBI shifted money from an account in the Medicare trust fund to counterterrorism activities between 2000 and 2003, according to the May 16 report. Furthermore, the report said "the FBI had no effective mechanism in place" to ensure compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, which established a separate program for investigating health care fraud in 1996.

"Neither GAO nor FBI could reliably determine whether all of the HIPAA transfers were spent solely for health care fraud investigations and related activities for the four-year period," according to the report.

The study was requested by Sen. Charles Grassley, chairman of the Finance Committee, which oversees Medicare and Medicaid. The senator said the transfer of money "violates federal law to reprogram the dollars specifically allocated by Congress for this purpose, and it's inexcusable that the government cannot account for millions of dollars set aside to fight health care fraud."

Because of poor accounting practices, the report said, it is not clear how much money was actually shifted.

To view the report, titled Federal Bureau of Investigation: Accountability over the HIPAA Funding of Health Care Fraud Investigations Is Inadequate, click here.