
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, January 27, 1995                   TAG: 9501270076
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

TRIGON DEFRAUDER GETS 2 YEARS

A former training supervisor for Trigon was sentenced Thursday to two years in prison for cheating on his travel expenses - taking more than $8,000 from the Roanoke insurance company over several years.

Eddie G. Seay, 42, of Rocky Mount, received the sentence from Roanoke Circuit Judge Richard Pattisall.

Under an agreement reached earlier, Seay had pleaded guilty to one count of embezzlement and five counts of forgery.

As a training supervisor for Trigon, formerly Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Virginia, Seay made frequent trips to Richmond and other parts of the state.

He requested more money than he needed to cover the travel expenses, then forged the name of a supervisor to his paperwork so the fraud would not be detected, according to Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Gerald Teaster.

After an internal audit revealed the scam last January, Seay confessed and was fired from his job, according to court records. Seay will be allowed to seek work release from jail.

Defense Attorney Terry Grimes had asked for a lighter sentence, pointing out that no one was physically harmed by Seay's actions.

But Pattisall told Seay: "Whether you break into a house or do what you did, stealing is stealing."

by CNB