For the past several months, seven employees of the Allegheny County-run Kane Community Living Centers have been under investigation, which is now nearing its completion.

It started with the cutting of grass at the center in Scott Township. In September, county police arrested maintenance worker Patrick McGough, who was charged with theft by deception after being accused of putting in for 196 hours of premium pay for work he never performed. 

Two weeks later, human resource director Heather Deitz was charged with fraud and theft for allegedly diverting close to $50,000 in taxpayer money into a bogus payroll account and cashing the checks herself. 

"When these allegations came forward to us, we immediately launched an investigation, and that has resulted in the actions we've taken," said John Fournier, Allegheny County's manager. 

For the past several months, Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato's administration has worked with the county police to pursue broader internal and criminal investigations, which have resulted in the suspension of five other Kane employees, including Robert Wernicki, the chief administrator at the center in Scott. He was suspended without pay and declined to comment when reached by KDKA. 

Fournier won't state the reasons behind the suspension. 

"I can't get into the details of it with him," he said. "Employees have due process rights when things like this happen. We have to protect the integrity of the investigations that are ongoing."

As part of the investigation, Wernicki's chief assistant is also suspended without pay and hasn't returned to her job. The county suspended Scott's director of nursing and her two chief assistants with pay, but they have all now returned to work. 

Fournier says the internal investigation may be at its conclusion. 

"That investigation is winding down at this point, and we're hopefully getting ready to a point where we can get these issues wrapped up and moving forward," he said.

For their part, county police aren't commenting, but it appears their investigation has concluded without the filing of additional criminal charges. Still, the county manager says the county will stay vigilant and root out potential corruption.

Both McGough and Deitz have waived their cases to the Allegheny County Common Pleas Court. Both will be formally arraigned later this month.