Businessman Sentenced to Over 4 Years for Tax Fraud

Ephantus Mwangi, a Kenyan national and Missouri businessman, has been sentenced to 51 months in prison for willfully failing to pay employment taxes to the IRS, the U. S. Attorney's Office announced.

Mwangi, who owned and operated True Payment Solutions, Inc. and True POS Solutions, Inc. , was sentenced on October 5, 2026, by U.

S. District Judge Daniel D. Crabtree in Kansas City.

According to court documents, Mwangi withheld $331,404. 33 in employment taxes from his employees' wages from at least the third quarter of 2017 through the fourth quarter of 2018 but failed to remit these funds to the IRS. Instead, from 2016 to 2019, he transferred over $1.

5 million from his businesses' accounts to his personal accounts, using the money to fund a lavish lifestyle. This included spending more than $200,000 on luxury vehicle loan payments and renting an 11,000 sq. ft.

mansion in San Antonio for $13,000 per month.

Mwangi also transferred $763,000 to a company in Kenya and frequently visited a casino for extended periods. He further failed to file individual income tax returns for 2017 and 2020 and filed late returns for 2018 and 2019. Corporate income tax returns for his businesses were not filed for 2017 through 2019, resulting in a tax loss to the U.

S. government exceeding $1. 5 million.

Mwangi was initially scheduled to be sentenced on April 27, 2026, but failed to appear in court, becoming a fugitive for approximately six weeks. He was eventually arrested during a traffic stop, where he falsely identified himself to law enforcement.

In addition to his prison sentence, Mwangi was ordered to serve three years of supervised release and pay $1,597,835. 24 in restitution to the United States, along with a $150,000 fine. The case was investigated by IRS Criminal Investigation with assistance from the U.

S. Marshals Service and the Texas State Police.

The sentencing is part of a broader national effort by the Justice Department's National Fraud Enforcement Division and other agencies to combat tax fraud. This initiative has exposed over $490 million in tax fraud across the United States, targeting more than 76 criminal defendants.