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A Wheeling, West Virginia, physician was sentenced for tax fraud that totaled nearly $2.5 million, U.S. Attorney Matthew L. Harvey announced.
Nitesh Ratnakar, age 50, was sentenced to 41 months in prison for 41 counts of tax fraud. Ratnakar owned and operated a gastroenterology practice and a medical equipment manufacturer in Elkins, West Virginia. He withheld payroll taxes from his employees’ paychecks and failed to make $2,419,560 in required payments to the Internal Revenue Service. Ratnakar also filed false tax returns in 2020, 2021, and 2022.
“Dr. Ratnakar cheated the system by avoiding tax payments,” said Harvey. “Tax fraud is stealing from all honest citizens and will not be tolerated in this district.”
Ratnakar will serve one year of supervised release following his prison sentence.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jarod Douglas and Eleanor Hurney prosecuted the case on behalf of the government. The Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation investigated the case. Chief U.S. District Judge Thomas S. Kleeh presided.
