Rebecca Pargeon, the owner and operator of three medical debt collection businesses, was sentenced Sept. 7 to four years in federal prison for embezzling more than $800,000 from her clients, according to the Department of Justice.
Ms. Pargeon owned and operated Pargeon Medical Services, Kids First Pediatric Billing and Surgical Billing Solutions, which were all based in Springfield, Mo. Medical practitioners across the country hired her to collect payments owed to them by patients and insurance companies.
From Jan. 11, 2012, to April 26, 2016, Ms. Pargeon fraudulently deposited funds she collected into her personal and business bank accounts. She admitted to endorsing and depositing more than 740 checks made payable to her clients into her own accounts, according to the DOJ.
Ms. Pargeon also admitted she did not report the embezzled income on her federal tax returns for 2012 through 2015.
In April, she pleaded guilty to wire fraud and to filing a false tax return.
In addition to her prison term, Ms. Pargeon was ordered to pay $948,273 in restitution to her victims, according to the DOJ.
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