Date: May 9, 2023 Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov Jefferson City, MO — A Jefferson City, Mo., tax preparer was sentenced in federal court today for filing false tax returns for himself and others. Josiah Mator, Jr. was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Roseann Ketchmark to two years and nine months in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Mator to pay a fine of $1,000 and $200,292 in restitution to the federal government and the state of Missouri. On June 23, 2022, Mator was convicted at trial of two counts of filing false federal income tax returns. Mator, a citizen of the United States who moved to this country from Liberia in 2001, prepared and electronically filed tax returns for individuals in the Liberian community and other friends and acquaintances for tax years 2010 through 2015. Mator did not have a registered tax preparation business, but used Express 1040 software to prepare his clients’ tax returns from his home. According to court documents, individuals received substantial refunds they were not legally eligible to receive in 53 fraudulent claims related to the scheme. Matro’s criminal conduct resulted in a federal and state tax loss of $200,292. Mator was found guilty of filing a false federal income tax return for his own 2015 income. Mator claimed that his adjusted gross income in 2015 was $16,552, and his taxable income was $0, knowing that he did not include the business income from his tax preparation service. Mator also was found guilty of filing a false federal income tax return for individuals identified as “I.A.” and L.A.” The fraudulent return reported $16,000 in unreimbursed employee business expenses in 2015, although Mator knew I.A. and L.A. did not have any expenses related to their employment. As a result, I.A. and L.A. received a refund they were not legally eligible to receive. This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ashley S. Turner. It was investigated by IRS-Criminal Investigation.
