Springfield business owner Rebecca Pargeon pleaded guilty yesterday to committing a $555,000 wire fraud scheme and filing a false tax return.
Pargeon, 58, owned and operated three medical payment collection companies: Pargeon Medical Services LLC, Kids First Pediatric Billing LLC and Surgical Billing Solutions LLC. Through those companies, she collected funds owed by patients and insurance firms and was required to deposit the checks she received into the practitioners’ bank accounts for a percentage of the total, according to a news release from the office of Tom Larson, acting U.S. attorney for the Western District of Missouri.
However, Pargeon admitted between Jan. 11, 2012, and April 26, 2016, she embezzled $555,558 from her clients. Instead of depositing checks into her clients’ accounts, she fraudulently endorsed and deposited over 740 checks made payable to the medical practitioners into her business and personal bank accounts.
Pargeon yesterday also admitted she failed to report the embezzled income for the 2012-15 tax years, resulting in a loss to the government of $170,749. Specifically, she pleaded guilty to failing to report $232,929 in 2012 income, according to the release.
Under the terms of the plea agreement, Pargeon agreed to forfeit to the government $726,307, representing the proceeds of the wire fraud scheme and the $232,929 in 2012 income.
Under federal statutes, Pargeon could receive a sentence of up to 23 years in prison, according to the release.
