Health Care Worker Accused of Fraud Framed By Fired Employee, Attorney Claims

by Nicole Bitette 

The attorney for a Home Care Solutions employee accused of health care fraud said Wednesday his client is being set up by a disgruntled worker who was fired and is trying to get revenge.

Laurie Provost, 53, of Sea Girt, was previously announced as the owner of Home Care Solutions located on Commerce Drive, but according to her attorney, Douglas C. Anton, she is only an employee of the facility. 

Provost was charged with seven counts of second-degree health care claims fraud and one count of third-degree Medicaid fraud, the Attorney General’s Office stated.

Provost made her first court appearance on Wednesday. According to Anton, additional employees of the facility were written up for termination after receiving poor reviews. Anton alleged these employees may have stolen money and “also taken some liberties with a small amount of billing, including over-billing, which left the company holding the bag,” he said.

The state charged Provost before the company could rectify the action of the other employees, he added.

Provost’s position gave her the authority to terminate employees for not doing their job and in some cases for stealing from the company, according to Anton.

Anton alleged a recently fired, disgruntled employee stole various documents and fabricated the actions Provost is being charged for in order to extract some type of revenge, he stated.

“She [Provost] has been in the health care service business for over 30 years,” Anton said. “She has a stellar reputation in the industry and is well respected.”