Stephen Baird pleads guilty to $10.75 million fraud on dentist investors -- then vanishes before sentencing
Home > Hall of Shame > Stephen Baird pleads guilty to $10.75 million fraud on dentist investors -- then vanishes before sentencingUpdate Oct 2024:
Cases of dental office embezzlement are, at their core, a breach of trust and a form of employee theft that can go undetected for years.
An arrest warrant was issued for Stephen Baird for failing to appear at his sentencing hearing.
Original Story
S-Ray, a company founded by Stephen Baird, 66, of Terrebonne, Oregon was intended to revolutionize dental imaging. It raised over $10 million in funding, predominantly from dentists who invested in the company. No new product was ever developed, and it is alleged that money intended for developing the product went to other purposes such as the personal living expenses of Baird.
Stephen Baird's legal issues
Both S-Ray and Stephen Baird face lots of legal trouble. First, a federal grand jury has indicted Baird for ten counts of wire fraud. Details are HERE.
Also the Securities and Exchange Commission is taking S-Ray and Baird to court, seeking "disgorgement" of amounts invested in the company.
You can read about the SEC's court proceeding HERE.
As of this date, the website for the company is still active and still soliciting investments.
Related reading: Electronic Funds Transfers – 7 Reasons they are Dangerous
Update: Guilty Plea — Then He Vanished
Baird was indicted federally in February 2023 and pleaded guilty in May 2024 to wire fraud and securities fraud, admitting he defrauded roughly 200 investors — many of them dentists — of $10.75 million. He then failed to appear at his October 2024 sentencing in Seattle, and a federal arrest warrant was issued. He remains a fugitive, and the SEC’s parallel civil action is also pending.
Sources: U.S. Attorney’s Office, W.D. Washington; SEC litigation release
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.