Source: United States Department of Justice
A Missouri man made his initial appearance yesterday on an indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Kansas City, Kansas, in December 2023 charging him with willfully failing to pay over employment taxes owed to the IRS.
According to the indictment, from 2017 to 2018, Ephantus Mwangi, of Loch Lloyd, owned and operated True Payments Solutions Inc. (TPS), a corporation based in Kansas. Mwangi allegedly withheld federal income and Social Security and Medicare taxes from the wages of TPS employees for six quarters in 2017 and 2018, but did not pay those withholdings to the IRS, as required by law. In total, Mwangi allegedly caused a tax loss to the IRS of approximately $337,350.
If convicted, Mwangi faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison for each of the six employment tax counts. He also faces a period of supervised release, restitution and monetary penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Kate E. Brubacher for the District of Kansas made the announcement.
IRS Criminal Investigation is investigating the case.
Trial Attorney J. Parker Gochenour of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Huschka for the District of Kansas are prosecuting the case.
An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.