ORLANDO, Fla. — Seminole County commissioners on Tuesday agreed to hire a law firm to help analyze how much the county would be able to recoup from Joel Greenberg, the disgraced former tax collector accused of doling out public money on personal legal bills and other unjustified or fraudulent expenditures.
Greenberg — who resigned last June after he was arrested — currently faces 33 federal charges, including allegations that he embezzled taxpayer funds. He has pleaded not guilty in federal court but is expected to strike a plea agreement with federal prosecutors by May 15.
County Attorney Bryant Applegate told commissioners that he is negotiating with an Orlando law firm and could spend up to $75,000 to help his staff study how much money Seminole would be able to be reimbursed.
The law firm could also help advocate in federal court on behalf of Seminole for reimbursement of any public funds that were misspent by Greenberg.
“Let me be clear: There has been no conviction,” Applegate said. “I want to make sure that we proceed cautiously, and slowly and appropriately. ... And we will begin an analysis on what is the best approach to take that is prudent at this point in time.”
County officials offered few other details. However, a county audit identified many questionable expenditures during his time in office, including contracts with consultants for which auditors could find no evidence of work.
Meanwhile, federal prosecutors last month filed additional charges against Greenberg that include wire fraud and theft of government property. Those charges include allegations that Greenberg used his elected position to “embezzle and divert” more than $400,000 from his office, including through the purchases of digital currency.
Greenberg also allegedly used public funds to buy himself personal items, including basketball memorabilia signed by NBA legends Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant, according to prosecutors.
Commissioner Jay Zembower added Tuesday that the federal judge in the Greenberg case has the ability during a sentencing process to order him to pay restitution.
“That’s something that the courts, I’m sure, are looking at and considering,” he said. “There’s been charges brought, but there’s been no conviction. We really just need to wait. But there’s nothing wrong with us being ready to strike.”
In last month’s indictment — Greenberg’s fourth — federal prosecutors indicated they would seek to have him forfeit to the government just more than $222,000 for 10 counts of alleged wire fraud and another $120,000 for a trio of alleged acts of money laundering.
Those charges emerged from a scheme in which prosecutors say Greenberg used tax collector’s office funds to buy and sell cryptocurrency, like Bitcoin, and cryptocurrency mining machines, while shifting the money from his office’s accounts to ones that he controlled.
And according to a forensic audit commissioned by Seminole County in August 2020, Greenberg misspent hundreds of thousands of public dollars on contracts — including to friends, political strategists and Republican politicians — that were “either excessive or unnecessary.”
For example, records show that Greenberg used taxpayer money to pay $7,500 in legal fees to state Rep. Anthony Sabatini. Sabatini told the Orlando Sentinel earlier this month that he worked on wrongful termination cases against Greenberg from people fired after he took office.
He also paid Longwood Commissioner Matt Morgan’s company, Blueprint Enterprises, $40,500 in 2019 to promote the tax collector’s office on Twitter and Instagram. However, auditors wrote that they could find “no evidence of work product” by Morgan’s company. Morgan has not responded to requests for comment about his work for Greenberg.
The audit also showed that Greenberg spent $148,944 for “Joel’s personal attorney paid by office.”
In 2019, Greenberg claimed a net worth of $5.8 million — mostly in stock in his family’s dental empire — in his financial disclosure forms that all elected officials are required to file with the state. But in his most recent disclosure form filed last year, Greenberg claimed a net worth of $322,000.
County officials did not discuss Tuesday whether they would seek to press any additional criminal charges related to Greenberg’s spending while in office.
“The public needs to know that we’re doing everything we can to return all of their funds,” Commissioner Amy Lockhart said, before joining other commissioners in approving the hiring of the law firm.
