Ex-exec, now Texas resident, admits stealing $850K from health care giant UPMC

PITTSBURGH (AP) — A former executive with Pittsburgh-based health care giant UPMC has admitted he stole nearly $850,000 from the company by arranging to hire his wife and a friend as ghost workers.

Federal prosecutors say 48-year-old Ronald Locy faces up to a decade in prison after pleading guilty last week to embezzlement in connection with health care.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports (http://bit.ly/2kigAxI ) Locy, of Georgetown, Texas, was a senior director in the claims department for UPMC Health Plan.

Prosecutors say Locy’s wife received more than $785,000 from 2005 to 2013 even though she never worked for the health plan.

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Authorities say bogus documents, including performance reviews, were entered into the health plan’s database because of Locy.

Another person was placed on the payroll for $61,000.

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