Medical Payment Business Owner Admits to Embezzlement

A southwest Missouri business owner has admitted to embezzling about $555,000 while operating three different medical payment collection businesses.

The U.S. attorney's office says 58-year-old Rebecca Pargeon, of Springfield, pleaded guilty Monday in a wire fraud scheme. She also admitted to failing to pay taxes on any of the embezzled income.

Medical practitioners throughout the country would hire her to collect money owed by their patients and insurance companies. The businesses she owned were named Pargeon Medical Services LLC, Kids First Pediatric Billing LLC and Surgical Billing Solutions LLC.

Pargeon admitted through her plea that she fraudulently endorsed and deposited over 740 checks made payable to her medical practitioner clients from January 2012 through April 2016.

Under the plea, she must forfeit to the government $726,307.