[phiend]

Originally Posted by CNN

NEWARK, New Jersey (CNN) -- The New Jersey officials and their associates charged in a federal probe of public corruption exchanged hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes in parking lots, restaurants, boiler rooms and bathrooms, an acting U.S. attorney said Thursday.

The investigation netted 44 defendants -- 29 on corruption charges and 15 for alleged money laundering, acting U.S. Attorney Ralph Marra Jr. said at a news conference.

Defendants were to begin appearing Thursday afternoon in U.S. District Court in Newark.

Among the 15 are five rabbis, including the national leader of the Syrian Jewish community. They are alleged to have laundered more than $3 million in a "high-volume, international money-laundering conspiracy," Marra said. Their alleged dealings stretched to Israel and Switzerland.

"These complaints paint a disgraceful picture of religious leaders heading money-laundering crews, acting as crime bosses. They used purported charities ... as vehicles for laundering millions of dollars in illicit funds," Marra said.

The rabbis named in the criminal complaints are accused of setting up charitable tax-exempt organizations at their synagogues that they used to launder money.

According to the criminal complaints, a confidential witness working for federal authorities approached the rabbis and offered to make donations to the charities in return for the rabbis writing back a check to the undercover agent. The rabbis collected a fee for the service by writing a smaller check back, sometimes returning $45,000 for a $50,000 donation to the charity, the complaints said.

Charges against the rabbis include bankruptcy fraud, bank fraud and trafficking in counterfeit goods.

Marra said more than $650,000 in bribes was paid to those accused in the criminal complaints. "And the politicians willingly put themselves up for sale," he said.

"The [criminal] complaints show that for these defendants corruption was a way of life. They existed in an ethics-free zone, and they exploited giant loopholes in the state's contribution rules."

Hoboken Mayor Peter Cammarano III and New Jersey Assembly members Daniel Van Pelt and L. Harvey Smith were among those arrested, he said.

Investigators charged one man with conspiring to broker -- for a fee of $160,000 -- the sale of a human kidney for transplant.

Levy Izhak Rosenbaum of Brooklyn, New York, offered to obtain a kidney -- in return for the fee -- for an undercover FBI agent and confidential witness working for authorities, a criminal complaint said.

One of the complaints alleges that Cammarano, 32, took about $25,000 in bribes from a government witness posing as a real estate developer. The U.S. attorney's office said Smith, 60, and an aide took $15,000 in bribes "to help get approvals from high-level state agency officials for building projects."

Another complaint alleges that Van Pelt, 44, accepted $10,000 in cash as "consulting fees" after an FBI official posing as a real-estate executive asked him to help fast-track a real estate project in Waretown, New Jersey, a section in Van Pelt's district.

Others arrested in the public corruption portion of the investigation include Secaucus Mayor Dennis Elwell, 64, who is president of a family-owned trucking company; Ridgefield Mayor Anthony Suarez, 42; and Jersey City Deputy Mayor Leona Beldini, 74, the U.S. attorney's office said.

The arrests for public corruption and money laundering underscore "the pervasive nature of corruption in this state," Marra said.

Investigators searched about 20 locations in New Jersey and New York to recover "large sums of cash and other evidence of criminal conduct," prosecutors said in a news release. They also executed 28 seizure warrants against bank accounts that they believe were involved in laundering money.

The arrests should be "a clarion call that prompts significant change in the way business and politics are conducted in the state of New Jersey," said Weysan Dun, special agent in charge of the FBI's office in Newark.

"The list of names and titles of those arrested today sounds like a roster for a community leaders meeting," he said in a statement. "Sadly these prominent individuals were not in a meeting room but were in the FBI booking room this morning."

In a statement, New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine said, "Any corruption is unacceptable -- anywhere, anytime, by anybody. The scale of corruption we're seeing as this unfolds is simply outrageous and cannot be tolerated."

Cammarano, a former city councilman at large in Hoboken, was elected mayor in June and inaugurated July 1. He pledged to "lower taxes, reform government and deliver real change for Hoboken," according to his campaign Web site.

The FBI began the large operation three years ago. The public corruption and money-laundering probes were separate but linked by common players, a source close to the investigation said.

The source described the alleged public corruption as "straight bribery" -- cash-filled envelopes exchanged for political influence.

The other investigation centered on a group of rabbis who allegedly laundered tens of millions of dollars through their religious organizations for a fee, according to the source.

According to Newark's The Star-Ledger, the rabbis taken into custody are from the Syrian Jewish communities of Deal on New Jersey's northern shore and in Brooklyn, New York.

Federal prosecutors released criminal complaints that contained dozens of pages of detailed allegations. One complaint said that Van Pelt, the state legislator, bristled when photographed with an undercover agent at a restaurant in Atlantic City, New Jersey. "We don't want to get our picture taken," the complaint quotes the lawmaker as saying.

Wow this story seems to jump around all over the place. But it seems the state of NJ is so corrupt, not even Rabbis can stay clean there. Funny what turns up when you investigate black market human organ sales and fake purses.

[phiend]

Here is AP's version

Originally Posted by AP

NEWARK, N.J. – An investigation into the sale of black-market kidneys and fake Gucci handbags evolved into a sweeping probe of political corruption in New Jersey, ensnaring more than 40 people Thursday, including three mayors, two state lawmakers and several rabbis.

Even for a state with a rich history of graft, the scale of wrongdoing alleged was breathtaking. An FBI official called corruption "a cancer that is destroying the core values of this state."

Federal prosecutors said the investigation initially focused on a money laundering network that operated between Brooklyn, N.Y.; Deal, N.J.; and Israel. The network is alleged to have laundered tens of millions of dollars through Jewish charities controlled by rabbis in New York and New Jersey.

Prosecutors then used an informant in that investigation to help them go after corrupt politicians. The informant — a real estate developer charged with bank fraud three years ago — posed as a crooked businessman and paid a string of public officials tens of thousands of dollars in bribes to get approvals for buildings and other projects in New Jersey, authorities said.

Among the 44 people arrested were the mayors of Hoboken, Ridgefield and Secaucus, Jersey City's deputy mayor, and two state assemblymen. A member of the governor's cabinet resigned after agents searched his home, though he was not arrested. All but one of the officeholders are Democrats.

Also, five rabbis from New York and New Jersey — two of whom lead congregations in Deal — were accused of laundering millions of dollars, some of it from the sale of counterfeit goods and bankruptcy fraud, authorities said.

In rounding up the defendants, FBI and IRS agents raided a synagogue Thursday morning in Deal, a wealthy oceanfront city of Mediterranean-style mansions, with a large population of Syrian Jews.

Those arrested included Levy Izhak Rosenbaum of Brooklyn, who was charged with conspiring to arrange the sale of an Israeli citizen's kidney for $160,000 for a transplant for the informant's fictitious uncle. Rosenbaum was quoted as saying he had been arranging the sale of kidneys for 10 years.

The politicians arrested were not accused of any involvement in the money laundering or the trafficking in human organs and counterfeit handbags.

The number of arrests was remarkable even for New Jersey, where more than 130 public officials have pleaded guilty or have been convicted of corruption since 2001.

"New Jersey's corruption problem is one of the worst, if not the worst, in the nation," said Ed Kahrer, who heads the FBI's white-collar and public corruption division. "Corruption is a cancer that is destroying the core values of this state."

Gov. Jon Corzine said: "The scale of corruption we're seeing as this unfolds is simply outrageous and cannot be tolerated."

Hours after FBI agents seized documents from his home and office, New Jersey Community Affairs Commissioner Joseph Doria resigned. Federal officials would not say whether he would be charged. Doria did not return calls for comment.

The informant, whose name was not released, was the hinge between the two investigations. He gave prosecutors information about the money laundering operation, and later, at the direction of the FBI, drew on his background to go after politicians.

He found a particularly receptive ally in Hoboken Mayor Peter Cammarano III, according to prosecutors. The 32-year-old Cammarano, who won a runoff election last month, was accused of accepting money from the developer at a Hoboken diner.

"There's the people who were with us, and that's you guys," the complaint quotes Cammarano saying. "There's the people who climbed on board in the runoff. They can get in line. ... And then there are the people who were against us the whole way. ... They get ground into powder."

Cammarano attorney Joseph Hayden said his client is "innocent of these charges. He intends to fight them with all his strength until he proves his innocence."

Cammarano was accused of accepting $25,000 in cash bribes. Secaucus Mayor Dennis Elwell was charged with taking $10,000. Ridgefield Mayor Anthony Suarez was charged with agreeing to accept an illegal $10,000.

Jersey City Deputy Mayor Leona Beldini was charged with conspiracy to commit extortion by taking $20,000 in illegal campaign contributions. State Assemblymen Daniel Van Pelt and L. Harvey Smith were also accused of taking payoffs.

Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy said the charges were "a little shocking."

"I have full faith in Leona," Healy said. "She's a good friend of mine — was and will be."

Mike Winnick was praying inside the Deal Synagogue when it was raided. He said four FBI agents escorted a rabbi into his office and blocked the doorway. "Everyone was looking at each other, like, `What's going on here?'" Winnick said.

Busloads carrying those arrested were brought to the FBI's Newark office. One agent slowly walked an elderly rabbi into the building as another covered his face with a felt hat.

[Furious Ge0rge (Banned)]

Saw this on the local news today. Good to hear, but the only reason why this happened was the elections are coming up. Christie and Corzine are going at it like none other.

[phiend]

Originally Posted by Furious Ge0rge

Saw this on the local news today. Good to hear, but the only reason why this happened was the elections are coming up. Christie and Corzine are going at it like none other.

Wait, good to hear rabbis are selling kidneys and you can pay to have your building plans fast tracked through, or that they got caught?

Also, the investigation and charges are federal, I don't see how that relates to local politics?

[Ford]

Originally Posted by phiend

Also, the investigation and charges are federal, I don't see how that relates to local politics?

The world is getting smaller.

[Furious Ge0rge (Banned)]

Originally Posted by phiend

Wait, good to hear rabbis are selling kidneys and you can pay to have your building plans fast tracked through, or that they got caught?

It's good to hear that people are still being caught for corruption, it's just too bad that the 'investigation' took 2 years. Imagine how long it would take to lock up every corrupt politician.

Originally Posted by phiend

Also, the investigation and charges are federal, I don't see how that relates to local politics?

I live in New Jersey.

[mucStsihcranA (Banned)]

jews did 9/11

[phiend]

Originally Posted by Furious Ge0rge

It's good to hear that people are still being caught for corruption, it's just too bad that the 'investigation' took 2 years. Imagine how long it would take to lock up every corrupt politician.



I live in New Jersey.

What I was referring to, was this is a federal case. I don't see the connection to the upcoming election in NJ you mentioned. If it was a state investigation, I could see the election influencing it or bringing it about, but the feds shouldn't be concerned with who the next governor is NJ is.

[Frank101]

Gov. Jon Corzine said: "The scale of corruption we're seeing as this unfolds is simply outrageous and cannot be tolerated."

partially OT: (perhaps?)
Because Corzine has never been influenced or swayed by corruption at all way to say one thing an mean another. Those that don't know, http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/200...ative_362.html

He also made a donation to Seton Hall to allow Katz to attend who had received a full scholarship, and sold her a multimillion dollar condo so she can lessen the commute. http://books.google.com/books?id=abs...ult&resn um=1

As for Christi, not really sure what to think of him given the recent mud slinging ads put out by Corzine, but when he was a prosecutor he got a lot of corruption charges and indictments.

[ISmokeIce]

So 3 NJ Mayors, 5 Rabbis, and 2 State Legislators walk into a bar.

[System Is Watching (Banned)]

Well anyone who watches the Sopranoes could have told you NJ was corrupt

[Spartan58]

Originally Posted by Furious Ge0rge

I live in New Jersey.

That explains a lot.

[Swerve22]

They should just start arresting people the day they get sworn in to office down there and save time.

[apple face]

Originally Posted by mucStsihcranA

jews did 9/11

haha.....and the drunk uncle finally stands up to make a wedding speach.

Originally Posted by Swerve22

They should just start arresting people the day they get sworn in to office down there and save time.

lol.

"congratulations mr. mayor! you have won the election! you now have the responsibiliy of maintaining a fully functioning city......from jail of course. we dont know what you did, but you definitely did something.... and if you havent done something yet you will....mark my words YOU WILL......you have the right to remain silent sir........good job on the election by the way."

[Furious Ge0rge (Banned)]

Originally Posted by phiend

What I was referring to, was this is a federal case. I don't see the connection to the upcoming election in NJ you mentioned. If it was a state investigation, I could see the election influencing it or bringing it about, but the feds shouldn't be concerned with who the next governor is NJ is.

That's the thing. Christie launched the investigation, seeing as how he's a federal attorney for the NJ district--he was the one who started Operation Bid Rig. My point was, this corruption round-up came about right before the heated gubernatorial race going on currently. All that's on my television these days are attack ads from Corzine and Christie, back and forth. It's funny how corruption is handled in this country, you can always count on indictments during local elections.

[Furious Ge0rge (Banned)]

Originally Posted by Spartan58

That explains a lot.

You sure do cry a lot. You and I hold some pretty similar views, it's pretty funny how you continually troll me for seemingly no reason.

[rockingthequest]

Wait, people in New Jersey are corrupt? How surprising!