Here’s What We Know Right Now About Matt Gaetz’s Indicted Tax Collector Friend Joel Greenberg

Joel Greenberg A former Florida tax collector and close associate of Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) is facing a 45-page federal indictment alleging wire fraud, sex trafficking, and a litany of other offenses connected to the alleged abuse of his office and other crimes. That former tax collector, Joel Greenberg , is suspected of being a possible cooperating witness against Gaetz, Politico and others have recently reported, as Gaetz faces a reported inquiry into his own sexual behavior . Greenberg’s attorney has refused to comment publicly on whether or not his client is dishing dirt on Gaetz, and Gaetz has denied any and all wrongdoing. With the degree and extent of Greenberg’s cooperation — if any — against Gaetz officially unknown, Law&Crime dug through police reports and court records naming Greenberg to shed light on the underlying accusations against him and to more fully illustrate the extent of his legal jeopardy. Aside from his federal criminal accusations, which resulted in two separate arrests, Greenberg has also been let off the hook by local authorities in a number of instances. A woman called police to say a man later identified as Greenberg pulled her over using a badge and a flashing light for an alleged traffic violation, even though he isn’t a cop; and his own wife once called 911 on him during an argument. A third superseding indictment on file with the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Orlando Division currently accuses Greenberg of 33 separate criminal counts. He was initially arrested on June 23, 2020 on an original indictment alleging only two counts on June 17, 2020 ; he was hit with additional counts — six in total — on July 15, 2020. A second superseding indictment filed August 19, 2020, brought the tally to 12 counts; the third and current indictment was handed up on March 30, 2021. The charging documents do not directly name Gaetz, but they do allege a wide-ranging scheme against Greenberg. “As set out herein, JOEL MICAH GREENBERG used his position as Seminole County Tax Collector to engage in, and facilitate, the commission of federal offenses, including sex trafficking of a child, illegally obtaining personal information from a motor vehicle record, unlawful use of a means of identification of another person, illegally producing identification and false identification documents, aggravated identity theft, wire fraud, and money laundering,” the latest charging document begins. “JOEL MICAH GREENBERG also stalked a political opponent. After his arrest in this case, and while he was on conditions of release, JOEL MICAH GREENBERG conspired with an employee of the Small Business Administration (SBA) and another individual to submit false claims for Economic Injury Disaster Loans and to bribe the SBA employee.” Among the accusations is that Greenberg used the Florida Driver and Vehicle Information Database, known as DAVID, to create fake driver’s licenses using his own “photograph but the personal information of [his] victims.” Though the documents say Florida tax collectors’ offices do handle driver’s license transactions, they allege that Greenberg “obtained, disclosed, transferred, and used personal information of individuals whose personal information was in a motor vehicle record, including individuals with whom [Greenberg] was engaged in ‘sugar daddy’ relationships.” These fake IDs were used “to facilitate” Greenberg’s “efforts to engage in commercial sex acts,” including the sex trafficking of a child between 14 and 18 years old, the documents allege. The documents also say Greenberg used his access to the driver’s license system to illegally create at least one replacement driver’s license. They go on to allege that Greenberg cooked up a scheme “to embezzle and divert over $400,000 to benefit himself personally.” It involved using tax collector’s office funds “to purchase cryptocurrency for himself,” to “operate a business that sold cryptocurrency mining machines to benefit himself,” and to actually “mine cryptocurrency to benefit himself.” The mining machines were sold through Amazon.com, the documents allege. The blockchain part of the alleged scheme involved a company called Government Blockchain Systems, LLC , which Greenberg is said to have set up with one other person, and a series of banks and other organizations — two of which are cryptocurrency exchanges known in the indictment only as “Entity A” and “Entity B.” Several Government Blockchain Systems, LLC documents on file with the Florida Secretary of States Office, as reviewed by Law&Crime, contain Greenberg’s name, his signature, and the name and address of his official office. Federal prosecutors say Greenberg “falsely represent[ed] in the memo lines of checks the purpose of the transactions” related to this scheme in order to try to hide their “true personal nature.” They also say Greenberg used some of the money “to personally benefit himself, including by obtaining a $100,000 cashier’s check that [he] deposited into his personal account” at an area credit union. Some of the transactions ran through Greenberg’s government office-issued credit card, prosecutors believe. They also think he tried to cover his tracks by using “funds obtained from a family member” once he realized the Secret Service was investigating him. One transaction involved in the scheme totaled $65,860 in government funds; another involved $68,087.46, the documents say. The documents further allege that Greenberg used government money to buy autographed Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan memorabilia. Greenberg is also accused of stalking a “political opponent” in a manner “reasonably expected to cause substantial emotional distress.” The victim is said to have worked at a school. Greenberg is alleged to have sent letters claiming to be a “very concerned student” (in the letter’s own words) who “had information that the school employee had engaged in sexual misconduct with a particular student” (those are prosecutor’s words to summarize the letter’s contents). Redacted copies of the letter appear in the court record: Greenberg is also accused of setting up a Twitter account using the school employee’s name and photograph. It attempted to characterize the school employee as “a segregationist . . . in favor of white supremacy.” Greenberg had no consent or authority to set up the account, and the school employee had no clue it was happening, the documents allege. “I’m running for office to keep #seminolecounty white and segregated,” one post on the account read. “It’s time we take back out [sic] country!” “I’m proud of America!! Red WHITE AND blue. WHITE,” read another. “This is great. Just don’t become a Jew like your kids have,” another anti-Semitic post on the account said. A fake Facebook account also alleged sexual misconduct against the teacher. One claimed that the teacher raped a “male student” who went to seek the teacher’s “counsel on the student’s sexuality.” The post claimed the teacher admitted “his own sinful homosexual thoughts and they would together pray the gay away.” “This evolved into several sexual interactions,” the post continued, “even one involving a video of the sexual encounter. This must be made known. He is a sham.” Prosecutors say it was all a lie. “GREENBERG then and there well knew[] the allegations were false,” the criminal indictment against the former tax collector states. The documents further say Greenberg filed on June 28, 2020 — several days after his June 23, 2020 release from custody following his initial arrest — documents to reinstate a closed business Greenberg formerly owned. Greenberg is accused of using that company, DG3 Network, Inc., and another company, Greenberg Media, to submit a fictitious claim with the Small Business Administration for an Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) connected to the novel coronavirus pandemic. The applications are alleged to have included lies about the businesses’ revenues, numbe
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