CT dentist Dr. Jay Mestel gets prison term for embezzling $340K from practice
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Dr. Jay L. Mestel, 43, the co-owner and vice president of West Hartford Family Dentistry in West Hartford, Connecticut, was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison and ordered to repay more than $340,000 that he had fraudulently diverted from the practice. Mestel pleaded guilty to mail fraud before U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton, advising the court at sentencing that he had already begun making restitution to the practice.
Like many embezzlement cases Prosperident has documented, this incident reflects the broader pattern of employee theft within dental practices.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice — sentencing release (February 2004) (18 months plus two years of supervised release, a $25,000 fine, and $340,012 diverted; sentenced by Judge Arterton after a September 2003 guilty plea).
Losses This Significant Take Years to Build. A Forensic Investigation Can Begin to Recover Them.
Embezzlement on this scale rarely develops overnight—it compounds year after year, undetected. Prosperident's forensic team can quantify the full damage and build the evidence needed for prosecution and recovery.