Copy Machine Salesman Charged in Fraud Scheme

Scarsdale resident Joseph Holzberg faces felony charges in an alleged scheme to defraud a local business owner.

He is charged with one count of Criminal Possession of Stolen Property in the Second Degree, a class “C” Felony, and 42 counts of Forgery in the Second Degree, class “D” Felonies.

“This elaborate scheme in which the defendant was allegedly involved was motivated by greed, plain and simple," Thomas P. Zugibe said in an announcement Monday. "The defendant’s client got its money, Holzberg received commission for ‘leasing’ the copy machines, but the victimized local business owner paid for machines that he didn’t possess. I appreciate the victim’s cooperation in this case, which amounts to theft and forgery.”

Holzberg, an independent contractor, was acting in the capacity as copy machine vendor. According to the charges, the 50-year-old 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, Holzberg was paid a commission from his client and the local business was fraudulently charged in excess of $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 DA alleged. The copy machines were recovered by investigators.

An investigation by Rockland County District Attorney’s Office Special Investigations Unit led to his arrest on Feb. 1, 2017.