Ratnakar

CLARKSBURG — A former Elkins physician was sentenced to more than three years in federal prison Tuesday.

Nitesh Ratnakar, 50, was sentenced to 41 months in prison for 41 counts of tax fraud and one count of obstructing a federal grand jury. He will serve one year of supervised release following his prison sentence.

A federal jury found Ratnakar guilty of 41 counts of tax fraud in November 2024. Ratnakar owned and operated a gastroenterology practice and a medical equipment manufacturer in Elkins.

The Internal Revenue Service was the lead investigator in the case.

Ratnakar was indicted by a federal grand jury in February 2024 for failing to pay nearly $2.5 million in payroll taxes. Ratnakar withheld payroll taxes from his employees’ paychecks and failed to make required payments to the IRS.

Ratnakar also filed false tax returns in 2020, 2021, and 2022, and while under investigation, caused false documents to be provided in response to a federal grand jury subpoena.

“Dr. Ratnakar cheated the system by avoiding tax payments and then tried to cover it up,” Harvey said. “Tax fraud is stealing from all honest citizens and will not be tolerated in this district. Those who work to mislead investigators will be held accountable.”

Elkins attorney Harry Smith, one of the attorneys representing Ratnakar in the case, told The Inter-Mountain Tuesday afternoon that, “he (Ratnakar) was convicted on 41 counts and acquitted on one count. The sentence was for 41 months and that sentence has been stayed.”

Smith added that Ratnakar is currently out on bond “pending appeal.”

“He (Ratnakar) has been on bond now for two years and that bond will continue until the case is appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in Richmond,” Smith said.

Assistant United States Attorneys Jarod Douglas and Eleanor Hurney prosecuted the case on behalf of the government. Chief United States District Judge Thomas S. Kleeh presided.