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Federal agents arrest 44 including politicians in New Jersey corruption probe

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] The FBI arrested and charged 44 people on a variety of conspiracy, extortion, money laundering, and corruption counts Thursday, including several local politicians. The FBI said that the investigation, which began as an investigation of a money laundering ring run by rabbis operating between New Jersey and Israel, only began to focus on public corruption when a cooperating witness went undercover and began contacting local politicians. Those charged include Hoboken Mayor Peter Cammarano, Secaucus Mayor Dennis Elwell, Ridgefield Mayor Anthony Suarez, State Assemblyman Daniel Van Pelt, Jersey City City Council President Antonio Vega, and Jersey City Deputy Mayor Leona Beldini. New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine said, "ny corruption is unacceptable - anywhere, anytime, by anybody. The scale of corruption we're seeing as this unfolds is simply outrageous and cannot be tolerated." Those arrested arraigned Thursday afternoon. A number of public figures have faced corruption charges recently. Former Illinois governor Rod Blagojavich was indicted in April on corruption charges. In February, two Pennsylvania judges pleaded guilty to accepting kickbacks in exchange for sentencing juveniles to certain facilities. FBI director Robert Mueller said in April of last year that the FBI was investigating 2,500 public corruption cases, a 50 percent increase from five years prior.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on July 24, 2009 (boomark / email).