AG Clark announced her office’s Medicaid Fraud and Residential Abuse Unit (MFRAU) prevailed in a civil enforcement lawsuit against Phoenix Counseling & Wellness, PLC, and the company’s owner, Lauren Ann LaSante of Poultney, Vermont, for violations of the Vermont False Claims Act, which penalizes knowing or reckless abuse of taxpayer-funded programs. Yesterday, the Court, Judge Samuel Hoar, Jr., presiding, issued a judgment in the amount of $2,733,989.47 against Ms. LaSante and Phoenix PLC. The judgment consists of an unmitigated Vermont False Claims Act award of three times the amount in fraudulent claims and mandatory inflation-adjusted civil penalties for 164 false claims made for Vermont Medicaid payment between January 2019 and September 2022.