A tangled web

AP

A MAYOR, a rabbi, and an organ trafficker sounds like the beginning of a bad joke. But the mayors of the New Jersey cities of Hoboken, Secaucus and Ridgefield, a council president, two state assemblymen, numerous other public officials and political operatives, and five rabbis are not laughing. They are among 44 people charged in criminal complaints filed on Thursday July 23rd. The arrests were part of a ten-year federal investigation of both public corruption and an international money-laundering conspiracy. And, indeed, some organ selling.

The operation was huge. Three hundred federal agents of the FBI and Internal Revenue Service were spanned across New Jersey and New York to make arrests and raid homes and offices. The alleged money-laundering conspiracy seems especially shocking as it involved several high-ranking religious leaders, including the chief rabbi of America's Syrian Jews. With the help of an informant, who was charged with bank fraud in 2006, the federal agents infiltrated existing money laundering networks that operated between Brooklyn, New Jersey and Israel according to Ralph Marra, New Jersey's acting United States attorney.

Some of the charges relate to tens of millions of dollars apparently laundered through purported charitable organisations run by rabbis in New York and New Jersey. Mr Marra said in disgust that “religious leaders [were] heading money-laundering crews, acting as crime bosses”.

The investigation seems set to reinforce the perception of the pervasive nature of public corruption in New Jersey. “The list of names and titles of those arrested today sounds like a roster for a community-leaders meetings”, observed Weysan Dun, an FBI agent. Except they were not in a town hall but in a “FBI booking room”. The collaborating witness posed as a property developer offering money to politicians and aides in return for assistance in getting projects prioritised and approved. Much of the alleged bribery was connected to fund-raising efforts in recent election campaigns.

The court documents read like a cliché-filled movie script. Clandestine meetings were held in parking lots and diners. Money, to the tune of $97,000, was stuffed in an Apple Jacks cereal box. Anthony Suarez, Ridgefield's mayor, was charged with agreeing to accept $10,000 corrupt cash payment for his legal defence fund. Peter Cammarano, who was elected as mayor of Hoboken last month, has been charged with accepting $25,000 in cash bribes, including $10,000 just last week. The most bizarre charge detailed a conspiracy to broker the sale of a human kidney for a transplant. Levy Izhak Rosenbaum, according to the complaint, targeted vulnerable people, persuading them to give up their kidneys for $10,000 and then selling the organs for $160,000.

The arrests come in a state that is no stranger to political corruption. The former mayors of Newark, Paterson and Camden, to name but a few, have or are serving time in prison. Wayne Bryant, a former state senator, is due to be sentenced for fraud and bribery on Friday. Until recently, “double-dipping”, holding two elected positions, was the norm. Handing out public-sector contracts to political donors, “pay to play”, is common practice. Cronyism is practically accepted. Mob ties are not unusual.

Part of the problem is the state is very fragmented. There are thousands of public officials in the state's 21 counties, 566 municipalities and over 600 school districts. But even so, it is shocking how widespread and ingrained public corruption has become. Ingrid Reed of the Eagleton Institute for politics, who recently wrote a study on ethics in local government in the state, notes sadly “Corruption is part of the culture. For real reform, the culture of New Jersey has to change”.

Jon Corzine promised comprehensive ethical reform when he was first elected governor of New Jersey, but his sweeping proposals have been blocked, postponed or watered down by state lawmakers. Chris Christie, who is running against Mr Corzine this year, is New Jersey's former chief prosecutor. He spent much of his tenure putting away corrupt officials. But this may not help his campaign given the high tolerance for corruption in New Jersey. According to the complaint, Mr Cammarano said, “I could be, uh, indicted, and I'm still gonna win 85% to 95% of those populations”.