Dirty Jersey: Feds Bust Dozens in Corruption Scandal

[IDemo]

Source: nbcnewyork.com

Corruption sweep to be among biggest in state history

By JONATHAN DIENST and MICHAEL CLANCY

Updated 8:50 AM EDT, Thu, Jul 23, 2009

Dozens of arrests are taking place across New Jersey this morning and many public officials -- including the mayors of Hoboken and Secaucus, as well as the deputy mayor of Jersey City -- are among those being taken into custody.

FBI and IRS agents are making the roundups all across the state in what is being described as one of the biggest investigations of its kind in Jersey's scandal-plagued history.

It appears to be a corruption-related investigation but Justice Department and FBI spokesmen would not comment on the details this morning.

Arrests and searches are underway across Jersey City, Secaucus, and numerous Hudson and Bergen county locations.

Read more: http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/New-Jersey-Scandal-Arrests-Corruption.html

[spinbaby]

1. New Jersey is corrupt

Who would have guessed?
:eyes:

[ChairmanAgnostic]

2. the sky is up.

There's another hard to find truth.

[WriteDown]

4. Yeah...

You see these articles pretty much EVERY year.

[netania99]

3. That's my mayor.

The Hoboken guy - sigh ...

[DainBramaged]

5. looks like Christie is trying to score points.....

[rfranklin]

7. Christie was part of the Rove effort to smear Dems before the vote...

in 2004. He announced an investigation of Menendez which I have never heard another word about. I think you are right about Christie using this as a campaign boosting ploy.

[DainBramaged]

9. Dirty deeds done dirt cheap, Christie was a quick study of Rove

Menendez investigation got dropped like a hot potato after Bush was re-elected.

Christie is a fuck, and he will be defeated in his belated run for Governator.

[NJCher]

8. you got it

I'm not saying the state lacks corruption but Christie's corruption cases have netted people on pretty minor stuff and not much in the line of money.

I'm pretty sure this is another ruse by Christie, just like what he pulled with our senator and the corruption charges about a house rental. It had already been reviewed by a committee and there was nothing questionable about it yet for political purposes, Christie brought it up and got it on the airwaves and in the front page headlines at a politically opportune time.

And you should hear the news here today. It's all over the newspapers and callers into the public radio station are enraged.


Cher

[madrchsod]

6. big deal....here`s the real scandal in new jersey.....

http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2009/06/25/2009-06-25_real_housewives_of_new_jersey_star.html

[DainBramaged]

10. Now THAT's criminal!

:rofl:

[dipsydoodle]

11. US rabbis arrested in crime probe

Source: BBC News

Two mayors, rabbis and politicians are among some 30 people arrested in a major corruption and money-laundering investigation, say US authorities.

Hoboken Mayor Peter Cammarano, Secaucus Mayor Dennis Elwell, and Assemblyman Daniel Van Pelt are among those said to have been arrested in New Jersey.

Federal prosecutors said several rabbis were also detained in the states of New York and New Jersey.

Newark Mayor Cory Booker said it had been "an unbelievable morning so far

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8165607.stm

---

CNN link :

Hoboken, New Jersey, Mayor Peter Cammarano III and New Jersey Assembly members Daniel Van Pelt and L. Harvey Smith were among those arrested, according to the U.S. attorney's office in Newark, New Jersey.

A federal criminal complaint alleges that Cammarano, 32, took about $35,000 in bribes from a government witness posing as a real estate developer.

Another complaint alleges that Van Pelt 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. Van Pelt, 44, also is mayor of Ocean Township.

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

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/07/23/new.jersey.arrests/

[Taverner]

12. Clergy is the perfect cover for crime

Just sayin'

[fascisthunter]

19. lot's of history to back up that statement

[SteppingRazor]

13. SUCH a relief that Cory Booker's not involved. n/t

[Ian David]

14. Two mayors, an assemblyman, and a bunch of rabbis walk into a prison... n/t

[bklyncowgirl]

35. Sounds like a good start for a joke. nt

[Ian David]

15. I'm going to GUESS that all those involved are CONSERVATIVE politicians and rabbis? n/t

[brendan120678]

16. Majority are Dems, I believe....

The state assemblyman is a (R).

[Ian David]

22. Just because they're Democrats doesn't mean they're not Conservatives.

Look at Marion Barry, for example.

[msanthrope]

20. Mayors are Dems,but others are Repubs. Looks like a mix

so far.

Some people, their only party is greed.

[Obama2012]

30. Dems actually

The rabbis are probably Hasidic.

I'm familiar with Hudson County politics.

[Ian David]

31. Article says Sephardic. n/t

[magellan]

17. There are also allegations of organ trafficking

http://wcbstv.com/breakingnewsalerts/nj.mayor.corruption.2.1097675.html

[dipsydoodle]

18. Hammonds ?

:)

[GillesDeleuze]

21. haha

hammonds, rhodes, wurlitzers

[oberliner]

23. Why does the headline single out the rabbis?

Thirty people were arrested almost all of whom were not rabbis.

One wonders why the BBC chose that particular headline for their piece on this incident.

[dipsydoodle]

24. It must be somehting to do

with the bit which is further down the article :

The news agency Associated Press spoke to a congregation member of a synagogue in Deal, a seaside borough in New Jersey, which was reportedly raided by agents from the FBI, Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and local prosecutors' office.

"Everyone was looking at each other, like, 'What's going on here?'" Mike Winnick said.

Mr Winnick said four FBI agents escorted a rabbi from the synagogue into his office and blocked the doorway.

Agents also removed several boxes from the nearby yeshiva, a school that educates the children of Sephardic Jews, AP reported.

AS you can see the origin of the news was AP.

[oberliner]

25. Interesting

Still most of the headlines I've seen about this don't focus on the rabbis.

Especially since two of those arrested were mayors.

[Xipe Totec]

26. Man bites dog is news

dog bites man, not so much.

Corrupt politicians don't raise eyebrows anymore.

But a corrupt Rabi? Now that's news.

[Ian David]

27. Because rabbis look funny in orange jumpsuits. n/t

[Behind the Aegis]

28. Interesting choice of title for your OP

From you BBC link: US corruption probe nets dozens

From your CNN link: Mayors, rabbis arrested in corruption probe

Did a title change?

Edit: It appears the BBC orginated the title, then changed it. I have not seen the BBC do that before, Ha'aretz does it all the damn time, as do a few others. Therefore, I can only conclude you were posting withing DU LBN rules. My apologies for implying you created your own headline.

[dipsydoodle]

32. I guess they must've changed it.

I copy BBC headlines exactly as is/are by cutting and pasting. The only exception is when I occasionally add - UK for clarity. I sure wouldn't have made up that headline !

:hi:

edit - I'd left that page open when I went out earlier and here's the cut and pasted layout at that time.

Page last updated at 16:43 GMT, Thursday, 23 July 2009 17:43 UK
E-mail this to a friend Printable version
US rabbis arrested in crime probe

I hit refresh and it changed to this.

Page last updated at 22:41 GMT, Thursday, 23 July 2009 23:41 UK
E-mail this to a friend Printable version
US corruption probe nets dozens

[Burma Jones]

29. From what I see in the photos, this is a diverse group.......

Well, the only color really important to these folks is apparently green.

[bklyncowgirl]

34. Yup a real rainbow coalition of crooks.

White, Black, Jew & Gentile all dirty as the day is long. That's my adopted state.

And here I was thinking New Jersey was starting to lose out to, say, Illinois in the corruption derby. 44, count'em 44!

[alien_pundit]

33. More to the story....

"Among those arrested was Eliahu Ben Haim, of Long Branch, principal rabbi of Congregation Ohel Yaacob in Deal. According to court documents, Haim received bank checks in amounts ranging from tens of thousands of dollars to $160,000 at a time, made payable to a charitable, tax-exempt organization associated with Haim and his synagogue. To complete the money-laundering cycle, Haim would return the payment of the check in cash to an FBI cooperating witness. Normally Haim would keep 10 percent of the money, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Haim's source of cash for funding the money laundering was, according to court documents, an Israeli in Israel who Haim said he had worked with for years. For a fee, that source would make cash available through other individuals -- also charged today -- who ran "cash houses" in Brooklyn."

http://www.app.com/article/20090723/NEWS/90723016/Rabbis+charged+with+laundering++3M++officials+snagged+in+sweep

[barbtries]

36. New Jersey Corruption Arrests

Source: Huffington Post

TEXT FROM AP (GET UPDATES HERE)... VIDEO FROM NBC NEW YORK

NEWARK, N.J. — The mayors of two New Jersey cities and a state legislator are under arrest Thursday as part of a major corruption and international money laundering conspiracy probe.

Federal prosecutors say about 30 people have been arrested. They include Assemblyman Daniel Van Pelt, Hoboken Mayor Peter Cammarano III, Secaucus Mayor Dennis Elwell and Jersey City Deputy Mayor Leona Beldini. Federal prosecutors say several rabbis in New York and New Jersey are also arrested.

Cars are backed up four deep with suspects outside the FBI's Newark office.

Newark Mayor Cory Booker, who has fought corruption in New Jersey' largest city, says it's "an unbelievable morning so far."

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/23/new-jersey-corruption-arr_n_243407.html

---

i looked and searched to try and make sure this wasn't a dupe.

[TreasonousBastard]

37. Heard that on the radio earlier-- this is going to be a hoot...

3 Mayors, two state legislators, a bunch of rabbis, and lots of others. Apparently, the rabbis ran the schemee and the politicians hopped on for the ride.

For years I lived in Elizabeth, just down the road from these places next to Newark, and corruption wasn't simply accepted, it was the usual order of business. At least two police departments were closed down-- one for being the primary drug source, the other for being the town bookie. Somerset County hardass prosecutor was so tough on crime he didn't notice he was milking his own business for cash until someone turned him in. My county? No pothole got filled or teacher hired unless the county leader approved. And what did it take to get his approval...

Oh, and the Jersey City reservoir up by Route 46 spent a lot of time without the Mayor's name on the sign-- indictments were coming down so fast that the signmakers couldn't keep up.

And with the Cambridge Calamity so recent, it should be noted that Cornell West was asked about the racial profiling scandal taking place amongst the State Police at the time. He said that while driving from New Haven to Princeton he would be stopped on the Turnpike several times a month because the drug dealer profile was a black guy in an expensive new car. Once, when asked where he was going, he mentioned he taught at Princeton and the cop went "Yeah. Riiiight."

Governors and congresscritters were usually reasonably clean, but they all had to deal with everyone else on the way up. It was all very amusing.

[JerseygirlCT]

39. My parents say that when they were growing up, corruption

was a given in Bergen and Hudson counties.

Guess some things never change, although I see this one goes at least as far as Ocean Cty. (Or very far south Monmouth? I never paid attention to the county lines when I lived there...)

[TreasonousBastard]

42. And the story gets wierder-- Yahoo news says the rabbis were...

selling Israeli kidneys, too.

[JerseygirlCT]

43. Oh dear God...

That's weird. Very, very weird.

[FarCenter]

44. Mostly Monmouth for the rabbis

Deal and the Elberon section of Long Branch, north of Asbury Park. These would mostly be Sephardic Jews, although there might be some Hasidics from Lakewood involved as well.

There was a Lakewood democrat and a Ocean Country republican Assemblyman busted for corruption.

See the Asbury Park Press for details - http://www.app.com/

[tj2001]

38. Were the Sopranos involved?

[rfranklin]

40. Duplicate....

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=3982404&mesg_id=3982535

[barbtries]

41. from my OP:

i looked and searched to try and make sure this wasn't a dupe.

DU's search function never seems to work very well for me. but i did try. i also looked with my own eyes. actually i thought it would have been posted already, but i could not find where it was. sorry.

[baldguy]

45. How fucking cheap do you have to be? None of these people got over $30k!

[complain jane]

46. I was thinking the same thing

[madville]

47. 43 out of the 44 arrested so far are Democrats

Gov. Corzine has even come out and said all the public officials involved should resign.

[slackmaster]

48. RACIST ANTI-SEMITE LOW POST COUNT FREEPER TROLL!

:sarcasm:

[Mari333]

49. did they all meet at Satriale's Pork Store?