A Georgia man was sentenced to 230 months in prison on July 14 for filing dozens of fraudulent tax returns on behalf of several bogus trusts.
Marquet Mattox of Lilburn was convicted by a federal jury on August 18, 2021 of wire fraud, making false claims and stealing government funds. According to court documents and evidence presented at the trial, Mattox filed more than 30 fraudulent federal income tax returns with the IRS on behalf of about 12 different trusts from 2016 to 2018. In those returns, Mattox falsely reported that the trusts had withheld large amounts of tax on alleged interest income, giving the trusts a right to refunds.
In all, Mattox sought around $165 million in refunds on behalf of the alleged trusts. The IRS paid $5 million of the refunds sought. Mattox used these funds to purchase a new home, a luxury car, and other personal expenses.
“It is an injustice to those who legitimately pay their taxes for an individual to criminally exploit the system, in this case cheating taxpayers out of millions of dollars,” said US Attorney Peter D. Leary. “Our office and law enforcement partners will do everything we can to hold fraudsters accountable for their crimes.”
“Marquet Mattox secured $5 million in fraudulent recoveries by flooding the IRS with dozens of false statements on behalf of false trusts he owned and controlled,” said Acting Assistant Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg. “His significant prison sentence today makes it clear that fraudsters are identified and prosecuted, no matter how persistent or complicated their schemes.”
“Mattox made multiple attempts to defraud the Internal Revenue Service of over $117 million,” said James E. Dorsey, the IRS CID’s acting special agent. “The IRS has fraud detection and prevention systems in place; Attempting to submit false refund claims is a federal crime. Today’s sentencing reflects the seriousness of Mattox’s actions and his greed. Taxpayers should be wary of those who sponsor and use programs to file false records with the IRS. If you come across such a scheme, please report it to the IRS Criminal Investigation.”
“TIGTA’s statutory mandate is to investigate individuals interfering with the lawful collection of taxes,” said J. Russell George, Inspector General of Income Taxes for the Treasury Department. “Attempts to disrupt IRS employees in the performance of their official duties will be aggressively pursued. We appreciate the efforts of the US Attorney’s Office and the IRS-Criminal Investigation in working with TIGTA to protect the integrity of the Federal Tax Administration.”
In addition to the prison sentence, Mattox was ordered by US District Judge C. Ashley Royal to pay approximately $3.2 million in reparations and a three-year supervised prison term. There is no probation in the federal system.
IRS-Criminal Investigation and the US Department of the Treasury, Office of the Inspector General investigated the case.
Assistant US Attorney Lyndie Freeman for the Middle District of Georgia and Trial Attorney Jessica Kraft of the Department of Justice Tax Division prosecuted the case.
