Theft case lodged against Uniontown couple starts
Attorneys for a Uniontown couple accused of making fraudulent workers compensation claims said at the outset of their Fayette County trial on Monday that only the wife is responsible for what occurred.
Lisa Nypaver, 42, and Myron Nypaver, 46, are each charged with theft by deception and conspiracy for taking about $20,000 in workers compensation, which they allegedly continued claiming after Myron Nypaver returned to work as the fire chief in the city of Uniontown.
In his opening, Lisa Nypaver’s attorney, Mark Mehalov, said his client would take the stand during the trial
“We’re not going to sit here and tell you that false claims weren’t filed,” Mehalov said.
The crucial issue, he said, would become whether there was a conspiracy between the two.
Myron Nypaver’s attorney, Jerome DeRiso, agreed.
“You’ll hear testimony that Myron never obtained any funds — Lisa did. She’ll testify she filed these unemployment claims that were fraudulent,” DeRiso said. “There’s no evidence that Myron had anything to do with it.”
Uniontown city clerk Kim Marshall testified under questioning from Assistant District Attorney Gene Grimm that she noticed the matter as she was looking over state-generated reports about unemployment compensation and saw Myron Nypaver’s name on there as a recipient even though he had been called back to work.
Nypaver was furloughed twice, the latter of which was between December 2009 and March 2010. He came back to work on March 6, 2010, and authorities alleged that he and his wife continued to collect the unemployment benefits until November 2010.
Marshall brought the matter to the attention of counsel, and an investigation was initiated.
Before the trial day ended, jurors started hearing testimony from Kimberly Bury from the state Department of Labor and Industry. Bury testified that she met with Myron Nypaver during her investigation.
“He told me he had no idea of who was continuing to file his unemployment benefits,” Bury testified.
She testified she told him that she would try to get bank pictures in an effort to identify who was using the card associated with the account.
Myron Nypaver, Bury testified, told her cut up his debit card when he went back to work.
Through a stipulation, pictures of Lisa Nypaver using the debit card associated with the unemployment account to withdraw money were introduced. The withdrawals occurred when her husband was back to work, according to the stipulation.
Testimony will resume this morning before Judge Steve P. Leskinen at 9:30 a.m.