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Mayors, Rabbis Arrested in NJ Corruption Probe
NEWARK - Dozens of New Jersey politicians, officials and prominent rabbis were arrested on Thursday in a sweeping federal probe that uncovered political corruption, human organ sales and money laundering from New York to Israel, officials said.
FBI agents lead arrested suspects from their headquarters as part of a corruption investigation,Thursday, July 23 , 2009, in Newark, N.J. The mayors of three New Jersey cities, two state legislators and several rabbis were among more than 40 people arrested Thursday in a sweeping corruption investigation that began as a probe into an international money laundering ring that trafficked in goods as diverse as human organs and fake designer handbags. (AP Photo/ Louis Lanzano) The 10-year investigation, dubbed "Operation Bid Rig," exposed influence-peddling and bribe-taking among a network of public officials and a separate multimillion dollar money-laundering ring that funneled funds through charities operated by local rabbis, said the U.S. Attorney's office in Newark, New Jersey.
The cast of the 44 arrested featured Hoboken, New Jersey, Mayor Peter Cammarano, who took office three weeks ago in the industrial city visible across the Hudson River from New York.
Others accused were mayors of nearby Secaucus and Ridgefield, state Assemblymen, a deputy mayor, city council members, housing, planning and zoning officials, building inspectors and political candidates.
"New Jersey's corruption problem is one of the worst, if not the worst, in the nation," said Ed Kahrer, assistant special agent in charge of the FBI's white collar crime and public corruption program in New Jersey, who has worked on the investigation since it began in July 1999.
"It has become ingrained in New Jersey's political culture," he said, calling corruption "a cancer."
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 who paid off officials to win project approval and public contracts in northern New Jersey, according to documents in the case.
The public officials stand accused of taking bribes for pledging their help getting permits and projects prioritized and approved or steering contracts to the witness.
"CULTURE OF CORRUPTION"
In scenes that could have been lifted from the hit TV series "The Sopranos," about New Jersey organized crime, they met in diners, parking lots, even bathrooms, officials said.
"The politicians willingly put themselves up for sale," said Acting U.S. Attorney Ralph Marra. "The victims are the average citizens and the honest business people in this state. They don't have a chance in this culture of corruption."
The public corruption uncovered by the informant led him to the separate money-laundering network by rabbis who operated between Brooklyn, Deal, New Jersey, and Israel, authorities said. They laundered some $3 million for the undercover witness between June 2007 and July 2009, authorities said.
"These complaints paint a disgraceful picture of religious leaders heading money laundering crews acting as crime bosses," Marra said. "They used purported charities, entities supposed set up to do good works as vehicles for laundering millions of dollars in illicit funds."
HUMAN KIDNEY SALES
Rabbis accused of money-laundering were Saul Kassin, chief rabbi of a large Syrian Jewish synagogue in Brooklyn; Eliahu Ben Haim, principal rabbi of a synagogue in Deal; Edmund Nahum, principal rabbi of another synagogue in Deal; and Mordchai Fish, a rabbi at a synagogue in Brooklyn.
The probe also uncovered Levy Izhak Rosenbaum of Brooklyn, who is accused of conspiring to broker the sale of a human kidney for a transplant. According to the complaint, Rosenbaum said he had been brokering sale of kidneys for 10 years.
"His business was to entice vulnerable people to give up a kidney for $10,000 which he would turn around and sell for $160,000," said Marra.
Several of the public officials were accused of taking bribes of just $10,000, authorities said. Cammarano, at 31 the youngest ever mayor of Hoboken, was charged with taking $25,000 in bribes, including $10,000 last Thursday.
Most of those accused were arrested in a sweep across New Jersey by more than 300 federal agents early on Thursday and were slated to appear in court in Newark throughout the day.
The first 12 of the defendants, including Cammarano, appeared shackled before U.S. Magistrate Judge Madeline Cox Arleo. Cammarano rocked back and forth in his chair but betrayed no emotion.
They were granted bail ranging from $100,000 to $500,000.
(Additional reporting by Michelle Nichols and Ellen Wulfhorst; Writing by Ellen Wulfhorst; Editing by Doina Chiacu)
26 Comments so far
Show AllDisgusting.
well kiss mah grits..................
Public officials and church leaders are always held to a much higher standard than the ordinary citizen.
An extra-ordinary punishment is required.
What? You mean like getting more than a slap on the wrist? Could it be even possible?
And on an other note, do you think that there may also be an investigation of the same kind aimed at Washington? I always thought the worst center of corruption was there.
ha! i saw rabbis and was figuring maybe AIPAC was trying to expand settlements into NJ.
Is there ANY religion that is not simply despicable?
no, but buddhism isn't that bad, as a doctrine.............
They all make me want to vomit.
A mayor, a rabbi, and a building inspector walk into a New Jersey bar...
I got the setup; now I have to find the punch line.
Meanwhile-- charities, eh? That's practically code for "terrorism" in the era of Patriot Act prosecution.
· Yr Obd't Servant
no law will not touch them, they are out on bail already
edweg
"It has become ingrained in New Jersey's political culture," he said, calling corruption "a cancer."
Of course in Washington D.C. they call corruption "lobbying".
But it's legal so it's not corruption, eh?
These are small fry. A bone to toss to a weary public to convince us the law works as a deterrent to crime. The real criminals contiue to get away with murder and and call themselves our "government". Are we having fun yet?
And remember, if yooz ain't from joyzy, yooz ain't from no-wheres!
It is foolish to expect anything less.
Those rabbis could prolly use some of those millions Obama flings about for "faith-based" initiatives, 'cause they're "faith-based" criminals.
these are surely only men, no worse than anyone else, in a capitalist system where profit is percieved by our society as the highest achievement.
Why be surprised? It's business as usual. Anything to make a buck.
Recently, a friend met a salesman on an airplane. The salesman, from an English speaking country, does business all over the world. He told my friend that, by far, the United States of America is the most corrupt country on the planet.
Witness the billion dollar taxpayer gifts, stolen by repugnicrats and handed over to corrupt bankers, insurance companies, the auto industry.
Naomi Klein's latest book bears proof of theft of taxpayer dollars to benefit the filthy rich.
Shit, I charge only $75K for a kidney! I can tell you all that the money the Rabbi's were collecting was being laundered into pro israeli causes. Lets not ever forget the influence the Israeli's have here in America and how they use and abuse that influence. There are always two sides to every story, sometimes more than two. Has anyone here ever cared to look at the side of the story viewed through the average Germans eyes. Throughout history, the jews have always been targets - there must be a feason for this, other than they are picked on for __________________ (fill in the blank).
Part of this is a real study in contrasts---- If you are a rabbi, operating a charity for the benefit of Israelis, you are encouraged, and officialdom, until now looks the other way. If you are an imam, operating a charity for the benefit of Palestinians, you get the full weight of the law upon your head and are shut down and prosecuted. I guess the rabs just didn't want any competition?
"New Jersey's corruption problem is one of the worst, if not the worst, in the nation," said Ed Kahrer,"....
Except, of course, for the "nation" itself, which is SO corrupt, there is not a word in our language for an apt description. Just another bone for the masses to keep their minds away from the real thieves...THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, INC. Maybe NYC CAN will put a dent in that particular HELL.
What about the separation of Church and State? First time I read about this, I thought it was some kind of joke; I couldn't make this up. Good material for a series like The Sopranos, though.
Arab papers along with Rense have printed articles that claimed the Israelis harvest the organs of Palestinain protestors they have shot without notifying the next of kin.
On my first reading I had thought this more of that nonsense that one side spreads against another.
Perhaps I have to reconsider.
Just imagine, please, what the news coverage of this would look like (especially on conservative networks and radio) if this had been a ring involving Muslims.
With that in mind, should I expect conservative networks and radio to start airing shows questioning whether or not Jews can be trusted to be true Americans? Whether or not there is a Jewish fifth column in the US? "Could your Jewish neighbors be sleeper cells plotting to bring the US economy to its knees?" might be a discussion topic. Will they then discuss whether or not we need Homeland Security to monitor and search and wiretap synagogues? Should we have "experts" in "Judaic crime" (just like we have "experts" in "Islamic terrorism") on the shows, with some nice selectively chosen "quotes" from the Torah that allegedly show that the Jewish religion is all about stealing and cheating?
Or maybe should we expect them to imply that all Syrians (not just the Muslim ones) are inherently untrustworthy? After all, a Semite is a Semite, just like brown people who "look" Muslim are all brown people who should be racially profiled "just to be safe".
You get my point, right?
Why not Jewish sleeper cells. It's possible. 911 was an inside job and it has been reported by credible sources that the mossad was involved if not directly, then by not informing the US government of certain facts. Why must we always shy away from investigating Jews - oh yeah, the whole holocaust thing. I know its a sensative subject to an overly sensative people who just happen to have $$$$$ and lawyers and poiticos on the take. Peace out -- beeeeeaaaattttccchhhheeesss
They probably figured that since they've made it this far without hearts, other people could deal without their kidneys.
Where did the organs come from? And what was Israel's part in this? We are not supposed to ask these things?
YES rev. T is correct. Very good.... very good. And don;t ask about anything - or you will be outed as an anti semite. By the way, any one know where to get a liver? My mother in law is going to need one in a few years. a little problem with something called SCOTCH.
innocent until proven guilty