Costs
(2) Costs include the services that bear a direct relationship to a judicial or administrative proceeding and provided by in-house or private counsel, accountants, consultants, or others engaged to assist the recipient or subrecipient before, during, or after the commencement of that proceeding. (3) Fraud means: (i) Acts of fraud or corruption or attempts to defraud the Federal Government or to corrupt its agents, (ii) Acts that constitute a cause for debarment or suspension (as specified in agency regulations), and (iii) Acts that violate the False Claims Act (31 U.S.C. 3729-3732) or the Anti-kickback Act (42 U.S.C. 1320a-7b(b)). (4) Penalty does not include restitution, reimbursement, or compensatory damages. (5) Proceeding includes an investigation.