A former employee at Yale New Haven Health Systems (YNHHS) has pleaded guilty to one count of theft in connection to an alleged embezzlement scheme, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Officials announced on Wednesday that 51-year-old Lorita Fair of South Carolina, who formerly lived in New Haven, has waived her right to be indicted and has pleaded guilty before a judge to one count of theft in connection with healthcare.
According to officials, between June and December 2020, Fair caused a total of $116,260.41 in fraudulent payroll payments made to herself and two others.
According to court documents, in January 2020, Fair began working in the payroll department of YNHHS.
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YNHHS is a healthcare system that provides medical care to patients at several locations across Connecticut and other states.
In May 2020, Fair was hired as a full-time employee in payroll processing at YNHHS. Court officials said Fair began engaging in a scheme to embezzle money and funds from YNHHS by creating fraudulent entries into their system that resulted in her and two other individuals receiving payments they weren't entitled to.
As part of the scheme, Fair made fraudulent entries in the YNHHS payroll system, either by directly entering the payments into the online system, or by manually adding lines to a spreadsheet of payroll payments after the spreadsheet had been reviewed and approved internally, court officials said.
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The fraudulent payments would then be made by direct deposit from the YNHHS payroll system into Fair’s and the other two individuals’ personal bank accounts.
Between June and December 2020, Fair caused a total of $116,260.41 in fraudulent payroll payments to be made to herself and the other two individuals, officials said.
She faces a maximum term of 10 years in prison.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), along with YNHHS, are investigating.
NBC Connecticut has also reached out to YNHHS but has not yet heard back.
