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11 New Jersey Officials Arrested In Bribery Scheme
The FBI rounded up 11 New Jersey officials today, including two mayors (both Dems), a county undersheriff, a city council staffer, one current and one former councilmen, and five school board members, in a bribery scheme involving roofing and insurance contracts.
The FBI set up an elaborate sting to catch the civil servants accused of accepting $150,500 in bribes.
The FBI set up an undercover insurance brokerage company that included undercover agents and two cooperating witnesses, one of whom had previously operated a roofing business, according to a statement released today by the U.S. Attorney's Office.The school board members allegedly took bribes from the cooperating witnesses, and the probe widened when school board members directed the cooperating witnesses to officials in north Jersey, authorities said.
They, in turn, directed investigators to other public officials, authorities said.
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Comments (15)
BluestateRedhead wrote on September 6, 2007 1:17 PM:so, are they republicans or democrats.
thomas wrote on September 6, 2007 1:33 PM:beat that Alaska!
NJ back on top, setting new benchmarks for the other states!
anon wrote on September 6, 2007 1:37 PM:democrats
anon wrote on September 6, 2007 1:38 PM:democrats, is there a difference?
Anonymous wrote on September 6, 2007 1:40 PM:They are politicians looking for opportunities... the pillars of our communities... those who are setting examples for the rest of us... the ones surfacing as our democracy wanes and yes... they are republicans or democrats... members of the same mob.
Kuparuk wrote on September 6, 2007 2:45 PM:Alaska is still winning in the per capita category....
Anonymous wrote on September 6, 2007 2:53 PM:Bush-appointed AG goes after (only) Democrats, film at 11.
Joe S. wrote on September 6, 2007 3:37 PM:To be fair, Christie (the NJ US Atty) did get one major Republican pelt early in his term: Jim Treffinger, Essex County executive. I'm not sure that he has gotten any since.
oleeb wrote on September 6, 2007 3:50 PM:I followed the link, there was at least 1 Republican involved. Also, it appears some of the officials were not elected on a partisan basis, e.g. school board members. Having said that, I lived in Jersey for a number of years and it is simply a place where corruption knows no partisan bounds. Today it's mostly Democrats, tomorrow Republicans. There are so many folks in Jersey on the take in local and state government it is simply staggering. It's just the political culture there and has been forever. It's a hard thing to stop when it is that entrenched. Very sad, but there you are.
Dcydell wrote on September 6, 2007 4:08 PM:is this the beginning of the revenge of Aberto G. ???
syvanen wrote on September 6, 2007 4:10 PM:Ah reminds me of my decade living in Boston. Here in California this kind of petty local corruption is very rare. Providence and Boston were rife with this stuff. My next door neighbor got 18 months for his no show job with the county.
The Greatest State in The Union wrote on September 6, 2007 4:40 PM:Forgive my skepticism, but the leading GOP candidate for Governor, US Attorney Chris Christie, indicts 11 elected official, all of whom are Hispanic of African American, the day the Democratic State Committee conference begins....and eight weeks before state legislative elections.
Notable Republican corruption cases, while not less frequent, result in this kind of sting less frequently.
lhb wrote on September 6, 2007 4:58 PM:One of the mayors and the county undersheriff are also members of the State Assembly.
We just got Gov. Corzine to sign a law to prevent dual office-holding in NJ after Feb 1, 2008, but it grandfathers in people like the one Mayor-Assemblyman that was indicted today. The less of them in office, the better.
MikeSNJ wrote on September 7, 2007 5:50 AM:Oh yes, Gov Corzine signs a law to prevent dual office holding, just weeks after appointing Former Community Affairs Commissioner Susan Bass Levin to BOTH the Port Authority of NY & NJ and the NJ Public Local Finance Board. She was three years shy of the magic 25 years that earns one full retirement benefits. The Port Authority operates under the auspices of New York's retirement system, so the extra appointment - at $12K/year - will allow her to acquire the three additional years of credit she needs.
Corzine is a two-faced hypocrite. It's what we do in Jersey.
Disillusioned in NJ wrote on September 7, 2007 7:34 AM:Nearly everyone in NJ Government is on the take, one way or another. If they are not taking a bribe, cash or some other form of payment (like getting your grass cut or driveway paved...), they are gaming the pension system. I've heard of guys that are the local building inspector in two or more towns, the recreation director, a school board member, zoning board member, planning board member and the fire district chief. They manange to cobble together pensions credits towards all of these small, part time positions, into 70 to 125K per year pensions. And the kicker is, they bitch and moan about how hard they work (btw: building code inspections are a joke!! Half the time they are looking for a payoff).
And that's just the small time guys.
The bigger crooks control a majority of the rentals and real estate in the state and have the state pols in their back pocket.
Party affiliation is just considered a ticket to get into the 'real' party in NJ. And if someone thinks that this will help the national republicans (or Dem's), forgetaboutit. I haven't run into a single person in NJ, since the Katrina debacle, that doesn't think that Bush is an idiot!! Plus, haven't seen a 'W' stcker on a car in quite a while, too.