PITTSBURGH -- The federal case against a former Pittsburgh coroner continued on Tuesday with a woman who specializes in spotting fraudulent activity taking the stand.

Dr. Cyril Wecht, who has led inquiries into the deaths of Elvis Presley, JonBenet Ramsey and Vincent Foster among others, is accused of using his government staff as bookkeepers, secretaries, couriers and gofers for his family and his private pathology practice.

Video: Wecht Trial Continues

Prosecutors said Wecht, 76, illegally used the county workers to cut costs in his private practice, which grossed nearly $9 million from 1997 through 2004. He never made more than $64,000 a year as county coroner.

Prosecutors are laying the foundation to compare how much certain trips by Wecht actually cost, and what Wecht billed to his private clients for reimbursement of travel expenses.

Witness Donna Williams is an expert on fraud and security, but on Tuesday, she made no allegations against Wecht herself.

The expert, from US Airways, testified that airline records show Wecht flew 152 times with the airline in a four-and-a-half year span while he was coroner.

She could not say how many of those trips were personal, business or government related.

Her testimony is to document exactly how much Wecht actually paid for those trips, and she testified about more than two dozen of them while she was on the stand.

Wecht's defense attorneys got Williams to acknowledge that prosecutors only had her prepare 10 reports on trips showing the range of possible prices for those flights. She also acknowledged that a wide range of prices could be quoted over the phone for the same flights over a period of time.

According to WTAE Channel 4 Action News reporter Bob Mayo, the airline often upgraded Wecht's trips to first class at a no-charge perk of being such a frequent flyer.

When it did not, Wecht cashed in frequent flyer miles to upgrade to first class himself, said Mayo. But that is not a crime.

Testimony is scheduled to continue on Wednesday.

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