A health care provider that's under investigation for reports that it "fraudulently obtained" COVID-19 vaccinations and diverted them to members of the public says it has "proactively returned" its shots while the probe plays out.

As News 12 has reported, the state Department of Health said Saturday that ParCare Community Health Network -- which has facilities in Brooklyn, other city boroughs and the Hudson Valley -- possibly administered those vaccine doses to the public and transferred them to other parts of the state.

In a statement Sunday, ParCare Community Health Network said in part, "ParCare followed all NYS DOH procedures for obtaining the Moderna vaccine and was approved by NYS DOH for distribution and by CDC as a network site. As a result, we have properly received the vaccines and have provided the documentation regarding the proper receipt of the vaccines to the NYS DOH. In an effort to fully cooperate with NYS DOH, we have proactively returned the vaccines pending the Department’s review. We are confident the end result of that review will show that ParCare at all times exerted best efforts to comply with all NYS DOH requirements and will allow us to continue to achieve our number one goal of providing these critical vaccines to the New Yorkers who need them most.”

The state DOH said it was assisting state police on criminal investigation into the allegations. If true, distribution of the vaccine to members of the public would be a violation of state guidelines -- as coronavirus vaccines are only available and currently being administered to front-line health care workers, and nursing home residents and employees.

According to a Facebook post from Dec. 16, ParCare Health and Medical Center had said it was authorized to distribute the vaccine for people who fall under certain criteria.

The post says that it received thousands of doses of the Moderna coronavirus vaccine on Dec. 21.