A St. Louis tax preparer has admitted in federal court to stealing thousands of dollars from clients by diverting tax refunds and COVID-19 stimulus payments into bank accounts he secretly controlled.
Mark A. Murphy, 40, of St. Louis pleaded guilty Thursday to one count of theft of government property. According to court filings, Murphy prepared federal tax returns for clients between 2016 and 2020 but did not identify himself as the paid return preparer on the filings. Instead, the returns were submitted in a way that suggested the taxpayers themselves had prepared and filed the documents.
Investigators determined Murphy signed taxpayers’ names on certain filings and opened bank accounts in their names without their knowledge or authorization. Those accounts were then used to collect his tax preparation fees directly from clients’ refunds…