A Rutland man has denied allegations he financially exploited several vulnerable adults while working with them.
The defendant, Mark Lacomb, 39, is facing seven felony charges: one charge of uttering a forged or counterfeit instrument and six of financially exploiting a vulnerable adult of over $500.
He is accused of taking around $13,700 in cash or credit card transactions from five southern Vermont clients between May 2021 and March, his charging document shows.
During that period, he worked as a case manager at Lincoln Street, a Springfield residential facility for adults with disabilities, according to court records. He also was a licensed nursing assistant at Gill Odd Fellows, a nursing home in Ludlow.
The single greatest amount he is accused of taking is $8,900. In that instance, according to a detective with the medical fraud and residential abuse unit of the Vermont attorney general’s office, Lacomb deposited into his personal account a check made out to a vulnerable adult whose case he managed.
Lacomb is also alleged to have forged the signature of another vulnerable adult before depositing that person’s $500 check into his personal account.
He was terminated from Lincoln Street on April 5 and stopped working at Gill Odd Fellows on March 27, the detective’s affidavit shows.
Lacomb appeared in Rutland Superior criminal court on Monday and pleaded not guilty. Each of his charges carries a maximum prison sentence of 10 years.
Judge David Fenster allowed Lacomb to remain free from jail on several conditions, including that he not provide care or work with vulnerable adults.
He is represented by public defender Marco Kushner. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General Zoe Newman.
— Tiffany Tan
