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Accountant Gets Two Years in Prison For Filing False Tax Returns

A  Jefferson City, Missouri tax preparer has been handed a prison sentence of over two years after he was convicted of filing false tax returns for himself and others. Josiah Mator Jr is a U.S. citizen who immigrated from Liberia in the early 2000s. From 2010-2015, Mator prepared and e-filed fraudulent 1040’s for members of his community as well as other colleagues. Although he didn’t own a registered tax preparation business, Mator used accounting software to prepare these returns from his own home.

Fraudulent Refunds

 

While it certainly isn’t illegal to prepare and e-file tax returns for friends & family, it turns illegal when these individuals received tax compensation that was not entitled to them. According to court reports, 53 fraudulent claims and refunds were made during the scheme, resulting in an IRS loss of roughly $200,000.

Additional Charges

In a stem of new charges, the self-proclaimed tax preparer was also charged with filing false returns for another individual in 2015. In his preparation of these returns, Mator knowingly claimed $16,000 in unreimbursed employee expenses while he was fully aware that this taxpayer was not entitled to those reimbursements. In the same year, Mator also made a false claim on his own 1040. The claim was that his adjusted income was only $16,000 and his taxable income was $0. However, he failed to mention the income of his tax preparation business on his return.

Wrap Up

According to court documents, Mator was ordered to a pay fine of $1,000 and owes roughly $200,000 in restitution to the federal government. That is all in addition to the prison sentence of 33 months he was also given.

 
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