2020 has been a major year for fraudulent activity involving cryptocurrency, and now comes a new case to be added to the record books. As Seminole County Tax Collector, Joel Greenberg is accused of misusing taxpayer funds to purchase crypto servers and a whole lot of other items for himself.Greenberg Is Now Facing the MusicWe see this all the time with projects such as initial coin offerings (ICOs) and similar ventures. The people in charge decide that they’re going to charge a certain amount of money so that people can access their coin. The people paying for this coin are hoping to cash in on certain rewards in the long term as the company hosting the ICO gets larger.However, the money they’ve invested doesn’t go towards crypto or to building the company in question. It goes towards car
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2020 has been a major year for fraudulent activity involving cryptocurrency, and now comes a new case to be added to the record books. As Seminole County Tax Collector, Joel Greenberg is accused of misusing taxpayer funds to purchase crypto servers and a whole lot of other items for himself.
Greenberg Is Now Facing the Music
We see this all the time with projects such as initial coin offerings (ICOs) and similar ventures. The people in charge decide that they’re going to charge a certain amount of money so that people can access their coin. The people paying for this coin are hoping to cash in on certain rewards in the long term as the company hosting the ICO gets larger.
However, the money they’ve invested doesn’t go towards crypto or to building the company in question. It goes towards car purchases and other personal items that make the executives extremely happy. They walk away rich and the investors walk away with empty pockets. It’s an ugly scenario, and it has the makings of a Ponzi scheme in many ways.
While this situation isn’t exactly like the one described above, the basic ropes are rather similar in that money from others was used to buy things that would never have been purchased by an office or business establishment. Auditors from MSL CPAs and Advisors for Seminole County couldn’t help noticing that Greenberg was racking up several credit card-purchases – some that appeared questionable and “personal” in nature, they mentioned in a recent statement.
Among the most questionable purchases included a $15,000 charge to have remote sprinklers installed outside his office. These sprinklers were then used to aim water at people who were gathering signatures outside for a new petition. In addition, Greenberg is alleged to have purchased $90,000 in crypto machinery. He also paid to have it installed in a private room at his office.
The equipment was later moved from one section of the building to another. This is believed to have started a power surge and then a fire. The damage caused by the incident is slated to be close to $7,000 and it is not presently covered by the office’s insurance policy.
A Serious Tax Scam?
Auditors explained:
We noted many charges that took place on weekends and after hours. We observed charges for items including body armor, weapons, ammunition, and other tactical gear. We noted the purchase of a drone with thermal imaging capabilities.
Greenberg resigned from his post in June of this year, but it doesn’t look like he’s quite off the hook just yet. He is now being ordered to return any items that were purchased with taxpayer money and pay back his office for any legal expenses they incurred thanks to his spending antics.