East Granby Resident Found Guilty Of Defrauding Medicaid

HARTFORD, CT — An East Granby resident who formerly served as chief executive officer of a vocational program for disabled adults was found guilty of first-degree larceny by defrauding a public community and health insurance fraud by a Hartford Superior Court jury Monday.

Karen Gaston, 43, formerly known as Karen Lapienski, was determined to have billed Medicaid more than $50,000 for services that were not actually provided by her company, Elegant Clinical Corporation, formerly based in East Windsor, Chief State's Attorney Patrick J. Griffin said.

According to evidence introduced at trial, Gaston submitted numerous conflicting claims where the client was actually being treated elsewhere or otherwise absent on dates billed by Elegant Clinical Corporation. Additionally, most of the services billed by Elegant Clinical were supported by erroneous or blank documentation, Griffin said.

Overall, Medicaid was falsely billed for $52,648.75 in fraudulent billings for nine individuals, Griffin said.

Sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 25 in Hartford Superior Court.