Independent Contractor Charged With Embezzling $1M From Medical Practice

A financial management consultant was indicted Wednesday in Rhode Island federal court on 11 charges relating to the alleged embezzlement of more than $1 million from an anesthesiology practice and its employee pension plans, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.  The grand jury indicted John M. Hairabet Jr., 43, on seven counts of wire fraud, two counts of money laundering, one count of pension theft and one count of aggravated identity theft, from actions allegedly taken while he served as an independent contractor bookkeeper and office manager at New England Anesthesiologists Inc. and as president of Anesthesia Management Consultants LLC.

Prosecutors say Hairabet stole the identity of the owner of New England Anesthesiologists, which he used to sign bank documents and take $500,000 in funds for himself between November 2007 and January 2013.  Hairabet is also accused of taking hundreds of thousands of dollars in employee contributions that he was supposed to be depositing into 401(k) retirement funds, according to the DOJ.

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