Bankruptcy judge awards $1.7M to Executex in photocopier scam

Eastchester salesman Joseph Holzberg has been ordered to pay Executex, a Hawthorne company, nearly $1.7 million for pocketing commissions on photocopier scam leases.

Federal bankruptcy Judge Robert D. Drain issued a default judgment against Holzberg on Dec. 26, in favor of Executex Inc.

Whether Executex can actually collect on the judgment is questionable, in that Holzberg has filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy, declaring $732,080 in assets and $836,400 in liabilities.

Chapter 13 allows an individual with regular income to protect a home from foreclosure and to propose a plan to repay all or part of the debts.

But Executex filed an adversarial action within the bankruptcy case, asking that Holzberg not be allowed to discharge his debts, because he had allegedly committed fraud, embezzlement and larceny.

Holzberg worked for Executex as an independent contractor from 2012 to 2017, selling leases on expensive copiers. He received $435,518 in commissions on about $1 million in sales.

But Holzberg had a scheme. He forged contracts and delivery certificates, according to Executex, and stashed most of the machines in a Rockland County storage facility. The sham worked as long as customers didn”™t notice they were paying monthly leases on nonexistent machines.

But USIS, a technology company headquartered in Pearl River, noticed it had been charged more than $250,000 for 20 photocopiers it did not possess.

Executex discovered 60 bogus leases. It paid $1 million to compensate USIS and buy back copiers from companies that financed the transactions.

Holzberg did not respond to Executex”™s accusations. Drain then issued a judgment against him for $1,435,418, plus 9 percent interest for 22 months, for a total of $1,676,211.

Executex was represented by Leonard Benowich of White Plains. Holzberg was represented by Gary R. Gjertsen of White Plains in the Chapter 13 case but had no attorney in the adversarial case.