Monmouth Co. Business Owner Dodged Reporting $1.5M In Payroll: Feds

MARLBORO, NJ – A Monmouth County businessman who co-owns multiple businesses admitted Monday to underreporting over $1.5 million in payroll for his companies, federal authorities said.

Omar Mostafa, 57, of the Morganville section of Marlboro, pleaded guilty on Monday before U.S. District Judge Georgette Castner for failure to collect or pay taxes, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. Mostafa subsequently dodged paying around $239,000 in payroll taxes due to underreporting, court documents said.

From 2016 through 2018, Mostafa co-owned three companies that operated in New Jersey and New York and was responsible for signing the companies’ tax returns to be filed with the IRS, federal officials said.

The Asbury Park Press reports that Mostafa co-owned the companies with an unnamed relative. At least one of those companies was a collision repair shop, the publication wrote.

During those tax years, Mostafa underreported each company’s payroll, causing a total tax loss to the IRS of approximately $1.4 million, Sellinger said.

Mostafa faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a maximum $10,000 fine. Sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 12, 2022.

Sellinger credited special agents of IRS – Criminal Investigation, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Tammy L. Tomlins, with the investigation leading to the guilty plea.