$500,000 In Ladner Spending Itemized

The U.S. attorney's office in Washington, working with the FBI, is reviewing documents obtained under subpoena, sources said, and the Internal Revenue Service has contacted a top university official to make initial inquiries but is not actively pursuing the matter at the moment.

Ladner's troubles with the board began more than a year ago, when the panel began reviewing his compensation after he demanded an increase, according to sources.

Ladner was paid more last year than the president of George Washington University, which is twice AU's size and includes a medical center. An expert in higher education compensation compared Ladner's package with that of six other presidents of universities of roughly equal size and reputation as American and found Ladner's more than $100,000 higher than the next highest.

Although university presidents often are expected to entertain at home with dinners and other events for donors, the report concludes that the vast majority of the chef's time was not university-related.

Scruggs, who was executive chef at Christo in Bethesda and Bistro Bis in the District, received a salary of $88,000 last year.

The chef's position was eliminated as the investigation continued. And the social secretary, whose duties included serving as a personal assistant to Ladner's wife and as receptionist at the president's house on campus, was reassigned at the university.

The investigation will cost at least $1 million, according to sources who demanded anonymity because of their role in the probe.

The expenses of university presidents are not routinely audited by trustee boards, according to David Ward, president of the nonprofit American Council on Education, although it is somewhat unusual for a decade to pass without such a review.

Board Chairman Leslie E. Bains did not return phone calls seeking comment, nor did Donald L. Myers, the university's vice president of finance.