A Westchester accountant wants a judge to make his former CPA firm appoint an independent accountant to conduct a full accounting of the business.
Larry Holzberg claims that Band Rosenbaum & Martin P.C. and co-owners Hal and Scott Martin have refused to buy out his one-third share of the firm or pay his portion of revenues, in a complaint filed on March 24 in Westchester Supreme Court.
Despite “persistent efforts to reach a reasonable resolution,” Holzberg says, his partners have “delayed and obfuscated” and deprived him of remuneration “to which he is entitled.”
Defense attorney Julie Pechersky Plitt stated in an email that Holzberg “is well aware that this lawsuit is completely without merit and frivolous.”
BRM, as the firm is called, is based in Harrison.
Holzberg was licensed as a certified public accountant in 1983, joined BRM in 1986, and became a shareholder in 1991, according to the complaint. He holds 33.3% of the shares, Scott Martin, of Fountain Hills, Arizona holds 46.7%, and Hal Martin, of Scarsdale, holds 20%.
Holzberg says he decided to pursue other opportunities in May 2023, and all agreed that he would continue working through September 2023, the end of the fiscal year.
The Martins agreed to redeem his shares, according to Holzberg, and compensate him for work in progress and accounts receivable that had not been billed or collected yet.
The firm paid him for a few months after he left, according to the complaint. Then in January 2024, Hal Martin allegedly asserted that Holzberg was no longer a shareholder, the firm had no legal obligations to him, he no longer had access to billing information, and he should stop asking about the value of BRM shares.
In June 2024, the firm allegedly filed federal and state tax forms that acknowledged Holzberg’s shares as of September 2023 but “falsely suggested” that he was no longer a shareholder.
For 18 months, BRM delayed calculating the value of his shares, the complaint states. Then Holzberg threatened legal action.
Hal Martin allegedly replied in an April 2025 email: “You elected to leave so that you could facilitate being bought out and we supported your decision. I and the firm will continue to work on our dissolution, as we have been since you left as a continued show of support.”
But other than offering $36,000 for Holzberg’s shares, an “amount made up by Hal Martin in an arbitrary manner,” the complaint states, BRM has not redeemed his shares or compensated him for work completed or in progress before he left.
Holzberg claims he is entitled to at least $564,500. He is asking the court to declare that he is a shareholder who still has rights to distributions; order BRM to provide access to records; and make the firm conduct an independent accounting.
Defense attorney Plitt said BRM and the Martins “plan to file a legal response and countersuit in due course.”
Holzberg is represented by attorney Jonathan Ohring, of Yankwitt LLP, White Plains.
