Joel Greenberg, friend and colleague of the Florida State Representative Matt Gates, Using restricted national databases to access the information of hundreds of people, including celebrities, competitors, and underage girls who he pleaded guilty of guilty of sex trafficking.
As a tax collector in Seminole County, Greenberg apparently used his access to the confidential “Driver and Vehicle Information Database (DAVID)” to improperly obtain information such as social security numbers, addresses, and medical information of more than 700 people . Seminole County tax officials said they didn’t know of Greenberg’s extensive use of the system until they received a request for public records from the Florida Government Accountability Center, a government oversight organization.
Alan Byrd, a spokesperson for the tax bureau, said: “This is an activity of a former tax officer that cannot be tolerated by the DAVID system. We are working hard to ensure that this type of activity does not happen again.”
Octavio Jones // Getty
After learning that Greenberg had consulted the private information of his elderly father and deceased mother, Seminole Commissioner Bob Dallari said: “I was shocked by what he did.” “I don’t Understand why he did that…I don’t have an answer.”
Other officials were not so shocked. “I’m not surprised at all,” Seminole Commissioner Jay Zembower said. “But this makes me very worried about those people. For whatever purpose or reason, he is asking for their personal information.”
Greenberg has admitted to sex trafficking minors, identity theft, stalking, wire fraud and conspiracy to bribe public officials. He is now awaiting judgment. According to reports, Greenberg’s search includes his assistant Gates. After Greenberg used the plea bargaining, he is now the subject of a minor sexual behavior investigation.
In Greenberg’s guilty plea deal, he admitted to using David wrongly to “investigate his sex partners”, including underage victims in sex trafficking charges, “because he had reason to believe” that she was under 18.
Greenberg initially faced 33 federal charges, but 27 were dropped in exchange for his cooperation in the ongoing investigation of underage sex transactions. Gates’ name was not mentioned in the transaction, and it is unclear whether his investigation will be directly affected.
According to reports, he also accessed confidential information about Gaetz, Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake. Orlando SentinelAccording to reports, Greenberg visited the archives of his local political opponents, including former Seminole Commissioner Brenda Carey and husband Fairley Carey, as well as former Democratic tax collector candidate and radio celebrity Lynn Moy Pull” Diktor.
“I feel violated. I don’t know what he did with this information,” Diktor said. “As for the depth of Joel Greenberg’s sinking, nothing you say will surprise me.”
