The illiterate 1st century CE tax Collector

Sue the Halloween 'Mad Scientist' Costume sales lady, who I bought my outfit from, asked;
"How could a tax collector be illiterate? Surely," she said, "Matthew could read and write."

Here was my reply to Sue the sales lady:

"Matthew was just like Rocky Balboa (first Rocky movie) actually. Not much difference between them. The early 1st century Roman system for collecting taxes lent itself to excess, exploitation, and corruption. Consider the structure in 25 CE. The Roman government "bid out" the right to collect taxes in a region of the empire. The Roman government would say, "We need X amount of revenue from this region of the empire." Wealthy people (Mob Bosses) would bid on the right to collect (shake down) taxes in that region. Anything they collected above the government's demand was their profit (the take). These regional collectors often would hire managers (Gangsters) in specific districts of the region (Zacchaeus) for the shake down. The man would have a specific sum he must collect in the district. Anything he collected above that sum was his (the take). Often these managers would hire local thugs (Rocky Balboas) in the district to do the actual collecting (Matthew). It was their job actually to collect (shake down) the amount assigned by their manager (Gangster). If they collected more than the manager requested, the amount they collected above what was required was theirs. It does not take a rocket scientist to imagine how Matthew, an illiterate Rocky Balboa, worked."

"Matthew", by Jesus Christ

Is there a 21st century tax collector
who could author this work today?

Happy Halloween!