West Virginia Doctor Charged with Tax Fraud, Obstructing Justice

ELKINS - A doctor from Wheeling, West Virginia, has been indicted for failure to pay over nearly $2.5 million in payroll taxes.

United States Attorney William Ihlenfeld announced that Nitesh Ratnakar, age 48, was indicted Wednesday on forty-one counts of tax fraud and one count of obstructing a federal grand jury investigation. Ratnakar owned and operated a gastroenterology practice and a medical equipment manufacturer in Elkins, West Virginia. He is alleged to have withheld payroll taxes from his employees’ paychecks and then failed to make all required payments to the Internal Revenue Service. Between 2018 and 2022, Ratnakar allegedly failed to pay over $2,419,560 in employee withholdings to the I.R.S.

“We take tax fraud seriously because it affects all of us,” said U.S. Attorney Ihlenfeld. “As tax season kicks into high gear, this case is a reminder that being dishonest with the I.R.S. is never a good idea.”

The indictment also charges Ratnakar with filing false tax returns in 2020, 2021, and 2022, and with causing false documents to be provided in response to a federal grand jury subpoena.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jarod Douglas.

It was investigated by Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation.

An indictment is merely an allegation, and each defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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