ELKINS, W.Va. — A gastroenterologist with an office and manufacturing facility in Elkins has been charged with tax fraud after allegedly withholding payroll taxes from his employees’ paychecks and not making the required payments to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of West Virginia, Bill Ihlenfeld said Nitesh Ratnakar, 48, failed to pay $2,419,560 to the IRS between 2018 and 2022.

Ratnakar has been indicted for 41 counts of tax fraud, 1 count of obstructing a federal grand jury investigation, filing false tax returns in 2020, 2021 and 2022, and causing false documents to be provided in response to a federal grand jury subpoena.

The IRS Criminal Investigation conducted the probe.

Ratnakar treated patients in the Davis Health System, Weirton Medical Center and also had offices in Weirton and Martins Ferry, Ohio.