Kenyan-American Businessman in Missouri Charged with Federal Employment Tax Violations

A Missouri-based Kenyan-American man appeared in court last week for charges related to his failure to pay employment taxes to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

The indictment states that Ephantus Mwangi, who operates True Payments Solutions Inc. (TPS) headquartered in Kansas, is charged for holding onto the federal income as well as Social Security/Medicare taxes from the wages of TPS employees in 2017 and 2018. Mwangi neglected lawful obligation by failing to remit the imposed taxes to the IRS, with experts estimating the loss in taxes to be about $337,350.

If convicted, Mwangi could receive a prison term of no more than five years for each of the six counts concerning workforce taxes. A federal judge will ultimately rule on Mwangi's case, taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other important factors. Stuart M. Goldberg, the current Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Tax Division of the Justice Department, along with Kate E. Brubacher, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Kansas, jointly issued this statement.

The ongoing investigation of the case is being conducted by the IRS Criminal Investigation. The prosecution of the case is being handled by Trial Attorney J. Gochenour from the Tax Division of the Justice Department and Assistant U.S. Attorney Huschka for the District of Kansas.

Last year, another Kenyan-American who is the proprietor of a popular eatery in Washington DC was charged with embezzling the earnings of multiple workers for an extended duration. According to Washington DC Attorney-General Brian Schwalb, Kevin Onyona, the owner of the renowned restaurant, along with his Business Executive Emad Shoeb, deliberately and consistently violated the city's law regarding minimum wages for tipped employees and other safeguards by unlawfully appropriating their employees' earnings.

The Attorney-General also disclosed that Swahili Village, the restaurant in question, has a practice of including a 20 per cent gratuity on every bill. However, it came to light that the owners had been keeping a substantial amount of the tips that were intended for the employees (READ: Owner of Swahili Village Restaurant in Washington, DC Accused of Stealing His Employees’ Wages).