Former Florida Tax Collector Used Public Funds for Blockchain Company

A former Florida tax collector was found to have used public funds to set up a blockchain company.

In a report from the Orlando Sentinel, former Seminole County tax collector Joel Greenberg billed the Tax Collector’s Office $65,860 to buy computer servers for a company he was setting up called Government Blockchain Systems LLC. Greenberg then reportedly returned the money in a series of checks. 

Greenberg allegedly billed the Tax Collector’s Office for 20 servers in September 2019, and the next day, the public office cut a check to Government Blockchain Systems. The company, on the other hand, gave the office a receipt that it bought 15 out of the 20 servers. The Orlando Sentinel said it’s unclear why only 15 servers were bought. 

Government Blockchain Systems was registered in July 2019 and listed both Greenberg and Samuel Armes, president of the Florida Blockchain Business Association. Armes was hired by the Tax office as a blockchain advocate and legislative affairs director but left in December. One of the Tax Collector’s offices was listed as the company’s primary address. The company was dissolved in May.

Greenberg told the newspaper, the company wanted “to create a system that would migrate residents’ information from drivers’ licenses to a secure blockchain.  

Florida has indicted Greenberg for stalking a political opponent.