WV Doc Bilks IRS for $2.5M

⏱ 3 min read

Wheeling gastroenterologist Nitesh Ratnakar, 50, learned a hard lesson in Elkins federal court today – nearly $2.5 million in unpaid payroll taxes will get you 41 months in prison. Ratnakar, who also owns a medical equipment manufacturer, systematically stiffed the IRS, pilfering funds he’d already withheld from his employees’ paychecks.

From 2020 to 2022, Ratnakar wasn’t just falling behind; he was actively covering his tracks, filing false tax returns to hide the shortfall. The total amount of taxes he failed to remit to the IRS hit $2,419,560, a brazen theft from every working American.

U.S. Attorney Matthew Harvey didn’t mince words: Ratnakar “cheated the system” and his office “will not tolerate” this kind of behavior. The case, built by IRS Criminal Investigation, landed before Chief U.S. District Judge Thomas Kleeh, who delivered the sentence today.

Ratnakar will have a year of supervised release to look forward to after he finishes his stretch. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jarod Douglas and Eleanor Hurney drove the prosecution.