Massive Corruption Sweep In New Jersey

July 23. 2009

44 people were arrested in New Jersey today in a FBI corruption sting that netted three local mayors, among others, on corruption charges.

It appears an FBI informant, who was arrested in 2006, squealed on everyone and agreed to go undercover to furnish the Feds with the evidence required to make the case. The misconduct includes political bribes, illegal kidney sales and money laundering.

Mayors, rabbis arrested in NJ corruption probe

Thu Jul 23, 2009 1:17pm EDT - NEW YORK, July 23 (Reuters) - Three New Jersey mayors and several rabbis were arrested on Thursday in a sweeping federal investigation into political corruption that also uncovered human kidney sales and money laundering from Brooklyn to Israel, authorities said.

Among the 44 people arrested were Hoboken Mayor Peter Cammarano, who took office 23 days ago.

Cammarano, at 31 the city's youngest mayor, was charged with taking $25,000 in bribes, including $10,000 last Thursday, said the U.S. Attorney's office in Newark, New Jersey...

Central to the investigation was an informant who was charged with bank fraud in 2006 and posed undercover as a real estate developer and owner of a tile business hoping to build projects and win public contracts in northern New Jersey, according to documents in the case...

They laundered some $3 million for the undercover witness between June 2007 and July 2009, authorities said.

http://www.reuters.com