Ex-Westmoreland County Purchasing Director Charged with Alleged $10K Payroll Fraud

A former Westmoreland County executive is accused of altering employee work hours to swindle approximately $10,000, which carries multiple felony counts. The county’s former purchasing director, Kristopher R. Cardiff, is charged with falsifying payroll records to pay workers for a 7-hour workday rather than the allotted 6.5 hours. The illegal time adjustments occurred between August 2023 and August 2024, per court documents that TribLIVE quoted.

The request to extend work hours, which the county’s salary board rejected, seems to be the starting point of Cardiff’s plan. Cardiff claimed that in spite of the refusal, workers should unfairly shorten their lunch break by thirty minutes in order to receive higher compensation. After an internal examination discovered the discrepancy while preparing for the 2025 budget, investigators claimed he is now being charged. According to WPXI News, Cardiff has been released on a $10,000 unsecured bail, and his preliminary hearing is set for December 12.

The false timekeeping has a significant financial impact. With a yearly salary of $70,314, Cardiff allegedly profited from about $5,400 of the total amounts that were embezzled. Although five additional workers received additional compensation totaling approximately $4,400, none of them are currently being charged. Cardiff’s deputy, Kristen Coyne, was told to manually amend the timesheets after thinking the adjustment had been approved. As a result, she was paid more than $3,600 more. She was fired along with the other staff members. However, Melanie Jones, a spokesman for the Westmoreland County District Attorney, stated that they will not be charged with any crimes.

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