PARIS (Reuters) -French care homes company Orpea faces a new criminal complaint, Franceinfo radio reported on Tuesday, saying that two nurses claim the company had used their names to set up fraudulent work contracts.
Orpea, which is due to publish results later on Tuesday, told Reuters that “there is not and never has been any fictitious employment within the company.”
According to the Franceinfo report, two nurses who are not part of Orpea’s staff have pressed charges against Orpea for using their names to mass-fabricate unlimited work contracts, in a scheme to feign underlying fixed-term contracts with nurses.
Orpea shares have come under pressure since the first extracts of a book, alleging malpractices in care homes run by the group, were published. Those allegations have triggered a public outcry, government investigations and the departure of Orpea’s chief executive.
The aftermath of the scandal also dragged down shares in Orpea’s French rival Korian.
Both Orpea and Korian have denied wrongdoing relating to resident mistreatment.
(Reporting by Tassilo Hummel;Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta and Bernadette Baum)
