Pain Doctor Admits Embezzling $1.1M

A pain management doctor has admitted embezzling more than $1.1 million from a central New Jersey-based medical practice.

Federal prosecutors say 40-year-old Robert Muscio of Colts Neck pleaded guilty Wednesday to committing mail fraud to embezzle those monies. He faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine when he's sentenced May 21.

Authorities say the embezzlement occurred between 2007 and 2008, when Muscio misused his position as the practice's medical director to write checks on its bank account to pay his personal expenses. To conceal this misconduct from his partners, they say Muscio falsely described the payments as business expenses.

Muscio is no longer associated with the Red Bank-based practice.

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