YOUR BUSINESS AUTHORITY
Springfield, MO
A Springfield business owner was sentenced in federal court for a wire fraud scheme through which she embezzled $800,000 from her clients.
Rebecca Pargeon, 58, was sentenced to four years in federal prison without parole and ordered to pay $948,273 in restitution to her victims. Pargeon’s offenses also included failure to pay $170,000 in taxes on the embezzled income, according to a news release from the office of Tom Larson, acting U.S. attorney for the Western District of Missouri.
Through her businesses, Pargeon Medical Services LLC, Kids First Pediatric Billing LLC and Surgical Billing Solutions LLC, Pargeon collected payments for medical practitioners. She was contractually obligated to deposit funds she received into the practitioners’ bank accounts before receiving a percentage of the money for her efforts.
From Jan. 11, 2012, to April 26, 2016, Pargeon fraudulently endorsed and deposited more than 740 checks made payable to medical practitioners into her business or personal bank accounts. She embezzled $813,780 through the scheme, according to the release.
For the years 2012-15, Pargeon also did not report the embezzled income, resulting in a tax loss to the government of $170,493.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Carney and investigated by the FBI and IRS-Criminal Investigation.
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