Holzberg
NEW CITY – A Scarsdale man is charged with one count of criminal possession of stolen property and 42 counts of forgery, all as felonies, in a scheme to defraud a local business owner in Rockland County.
Joseph Holzberg, 51, an independent contractor, was acting in the capacity of a copy machine vendor. According to the charges, he allegedly forged documents and invoices in an effort to falsely represent to his client, the owner of the copy machines, that he had leased the machines to a local business, when he had not.
As a result of the forgeries, it is alleged Holzberg was paid a commission from his client and the local business was fraudulently charged over $250,000 for copy machines it was not leasing. In an effort to cover up the crime, he hid the copy machines in two separate storage facilities in Rockland County. The machines were recovered by investigators.
Holzberg, who was arrested on February 1, was arraigned and released on his own recognizance. If convicted, he could face up to 15 years in state prison.
“This elaborate scheme in which the defendant was allegedly involved was motivated by greed, plain and simple,” said District Attorney Thomas Zugibe.
