Employees allege Clinica leaders created an outside medical company that could profit from clinic payments, altered accounting records and later obstructed an independent investigation. Two senior employees and a former board member are accusing Clinica Sierra Vista’s leadership of corruption, financial manipulation and retaliation against whistleblowers. The lawsuits allege executives at the Bakersfield-based healthcare nonprofit developed a plan that could have allowed them to personally benefit from inflated medical payments before working to suppress an independent investigation into the arrangement. Driving the news: Chief Administrative Officer Magdalena Pruitt and Director of Finance Genesis Barajas filed a lawsuit Aug. 19 in Kern County Superior Court. * Valenzuela’s lawsuit accuses board Chairwoman Ana Zarco of interfering with a board-authorized investigation and improperly removing him from the board. The alleged payment plan: Barajas was directed to prepare financial projections for the Westpoint Community Health Center, a new Clinica facility in southwest Bakersfield, according to the state lawsuit.