As was foretold, we've added advertisements to the forums! If you have questions, or if you encounter any bugs, please visit this thread: https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/240191/forum-advertisement-faq-and-reports-thread/

New Jersey: Nice Kidney you got there. Be a shame if something happened to it.

OptimusZedOptimusZed Registered User regular
edited July 2009 in Debate and/or Discourse
The AP is reporting that public officials across NJ are getting taken into police custody. Reasons cited so far (mostly unofficial) include vote rigging (surprise, surprise), extortion (no, really?) and a human organ harvesting ring (WTF?).
AP wrote:
NEWARK, N.J. - FBI agents are sweeping across northern New Jersey Thursday, making arrests in what reportedly is described as a major corruption probe.

WNBC-TV in New York reported and showed images of the mayors of Hoboken and Secaucus being taken into FBI headquarters in Newark. The station also showed rabbis being taken into custody.

CNN is reporting at least 44 arrests, and the FBI spokesmen said that there were probably more to come during his press conference.

And here's a glamor shot of the Mayor of Hoboken doing his perp walk;

OB-EC729_NJCorr_G_20090723102506.jpg

That'll be great for his campaign literature, I'm sure.

More info here (NBC News Online)
Officials say separate from the corruption probe, some of the suspects charged today were also connected to an illegal human organ-selling ring. Investigators say some charged would take cash payments to help find organs for sick patients in need of transplants. It's unclear where the body parts might have come from or how many surgeries may have been done.

Congratulations, Jersey. And a heartfelt thanks for making Philly look like a bastion of moral governance.

The Great NJ Political Perp Walk

Here's CNN's early coverage of it. I have no idea how to embed from that page.

MSNBC's got more on the money laundering/organ stealing stuff (thanks, Couscous):
In separate money-laundering complaints, several individuals from Brooklyn and New Jersey were charged with offenses ranging from the trafficking of kidneys from Israeli donors to laundering proceeds from selling fake Gucci and Prada bags. It was not immediately clear how the money-laundering arrests were connected to the corruption arrests.

NBC affiliate WNBC reported that the kidney trafficking involved patients paying middlemen to find willing donors in Israel. Investigators allege that the suspects had donors and patients lie to hospitals by saying that they were related. Hospitals would do the operation unaware that cash payments were part of the deal.

Partial list of arrested suspects (DOJ via Earthtimes):
Among those charged in criminal Complaints are:
  • Peter Cammarano III, the newly elected mayor of Hoboken and an attorney, charged with accepting $25,000 in cash bribes, including $10,000 last Thursday, from an undercover cooperating witness.
  • L. Harvey Smith, a New Jersey Assemblyman and recent mayoral candidate in Jersey City, charged along with an aide of taking $15,000 in bribes to help get approvals from high-level state agency officials for building projects.
  • Daniel Van Pelt, a New Jersey Assemblyman, charged with accepting a $10,000 bribe.
  • Dennis Elwell, mayor of Secaucus, charged with taking a $10,000 cash bribe.
  • Anthony Suarez, mayor of Ridgefield and an attorney, charged with agreeing to accept a $10,000 corrupt cash payment for his legal defense fund.
  • Louis Manzo, the recent unsuccessful challenger in the Jersey City mayoral election and former state Assemblyman, and his brother and political advisor Robert Manzo, both with taking $27,500 in corrupt cash payments for use in Louis Manzo's campaign.
  • Leona Beldini, the Jersey City deputy mayor and a campaign treasurer, charged with taking $20,000 in conduit campaign contributions and other self-dealing in her official capacity.
  • Eliahu Ben Haim, of Long Branch, N.J., the principal rabbi of a synagogue in Deal, N.J., charged with money laundering of proceeds derived from criminal activity.
  • Saul Kassin, of Brooklyn, N.Y., the chief rabbi of a synagogue in Brooklyn, New York, charged with money laundering of proceeds derived from criminal activity.
  • Edmund Nahum, of Deal, N.J., the principal rabbi of a synagogue in Deal, charged with money laundering of proceeds derived from criminal activity.
  • Mordchai Fish, of Brooklyn, N.Y., a rabbi at a synagogue in Brooklyn, charged with money laundering of proceeds derived from criminal activity. His brother, also a rabbi, was charged as well.

We're reading Rifts. You should too. You know you want to. Now With Ninjas!

They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
OptimusZed on
«13

Posts

  • projectmayhemprojectmayhem Registered User regular
    edited July 2009
    Add my wtf to your wtf.

    projectmayhem on
  • MrVyngaardMrVyngaard Live From New Etoile Straight Outta SosariaRegistered User regular
    edited July 2009
    Human organ sales?

    Geez.

    The everyday sort of political corruption is expected, but apparently some of those dudes were going for the 401 courseload.

    MrVyngaard on
    "now I've got this mental image of caucuses as cafeteria tables in prison, and new congressmen having to beat someone up on inauguration day." - Raiden333
    camo_sig2.png
  • gigEsmallsgigEsmalls __BANNED USERS regular
    edited July 2009
    The Soprano's is the first the thing that pops in my head when I hear New Jersery. Stories like this... no surprise.

    gigEsmalls on
  • AegisAegis Fear My Dance Overshot Toronto, Landed in OttawaRegistered User regular
    edited July 2009
    I believe Illinois is currently thanking New Jersey for the positive image booster after this.

    Aegis on
    We'll see how long this blog lasts
    Currently DMing: None :(
    Characters
    [5e] Dural Melairkyn - AC 18 | HP 40 | Melee +5/1d8+3 | Spell +4/DC 12
  • SynthesisSynthesis Honda Today! Registered User regular
    edited July 2009
    Well, New Jersey lives up to the dominant stereotype, at least now.

    Synthesis on
  • OptimusZedOptimusZed Registered User regular
    edited July 2009
    CNN is saying that poor people sold their organs, and non-profits moved them and laundered the proceeds.

    Damn.

    OptimusZed on
    We're reading Rifts. You should too. You know you want to. Now With Ninjas!

    They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
  • AegisAegis Fear My Dance Overshot Toronto, Landed in OttawaRegistered User regular
    edited July 2009
    So it was a Jewish organ harvesting ring? o_O

    Aegis on
    We'll see how long this blog lasts
    Currently DMing: None :(
    Characters
    [5e] Dural Melairkyn - AC 18 | HP 40 | Melee +5/1d8+3 | Spell +4/DC 12
  • OptimusZedOptimusZed Registered User regular
    edited July 2009
    Aegis wrote: »
    So it was a Jewish organ harvesting ring? o_O
    I'm not sure if the ring itself was, or if the Rabbis and non-profits were purely money laundering that happened to be used by the organ sellers.

    If I can get some CNN video coverage I'll post it.

    OptimusZed on
    We're reading Rifts. You should too. You know you want to. Now With Ninjas!

    They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
  • YougottawannaYougottawanna Registered User regular
    edited July 2009
    That image should actually help public perception of NJ.

    I assumed the mayor of hoboken would have a fake tan and spiked hair.

    Yougottawanna on
  • TomantaTomanta Registered User regular
    edited July 2009
    Aegis wrote: »
    I believe Illinois is currently thanking New Jersey for the positive image booster after this.

    I fully expect to hear Blago say "Well, at least I wasn't selling people's organs!". Only with more profanity.

    Tomanta on
  • RustRust __BANNED USERS regular
    edited July 2009
  • DemiurgeDemiurge Registered User regular
    edited July 2009
    Jewish organ smugglers? Now I've seen it all.

    Demiurge on
    DQ0uv.png 5E984.png
  • tallgeezetallgeeze Registered User regular
    edited July 2009
    Tomanta wrote: »
    Aegis wrote: »
    I believe Illinois is currently thanking New Jersey for the positive image booster after this.

    I fully expect to hear Blago say "Well, at least I wasn't selling people's organs!". Only with more profanity.

    More like, "Damn, why didn't I think of that?"

    I feel bad for whoever is in charge of the tourist board of NJ. That person has been overwhelmed for a while.

    "Come to New Jersey.....don't believe the rumors!"

    tallgeeze on
  • nexuscrawlernexuscrawler Registered User regular
    edited July 2009
    One of the people snagged is my deputy mayor

    Mayor still hasn't said jack

    nexuscrawler on
  • MalkorMalkor Registered User regular
    edited July 2009
    I saw some local coverage this morning. Last I heard there were thirty-one people brought in, and more on the way.

    Malkor on
    14271f3c-c765-4e74-92b1-49d7612675f2.jpg
  • HenroidHenroid Mexican kicked from Immigration Thread Centrism is Racism :3Registered User regular
    edited July 2009
    Wait, this is like more than one guy in more than one city in Jersey? What the fuck?

    Henroid on
  • OptimusZedOptimusZed Registered User regular
    edited July 2009
    Malkor wrote: »
    I saw some local coverage this morning. Last i heard there were thirty-one people brought in, and more on the way.
    CNN's saying 44, and the guy giving the police press conference had a fairly long list of people who were out of state and would need tracked down.

    Edit: I'll add some scope to the OP.

    OptimusZed on
    We're reading Rifts. You should too. You know you want to. Now With Ninjas!

    They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
  • DoctorArchDoctorArch Curmudgeon Registered User regular
    edited July 2009
    Demiurge wrote: »
    Jewish organ smugglers? Now I've seen it all.

    Dammit Jews! The point is to NOT do things that idiotic anti-Semites suspect you of doing.

    DoctorArch on
    Switch Friend Code: SW-6732-9515-9697
  • kildykildy Registered User regular
    edited July 2009
    Henroid wrote: »
    Wait, this is like more than one guy in more than one city in Jersey? What the fuck?

    They're trying out for the corruption Olympics.

    kildy on
  • CouscousCouscous Registered User regular
    edited July 2009
    Archgarth wrote: »
    Demiurge wrote: »
    Jewish organ smugglers? Now I've seen it all.

    Dammit Jews! The point is to NOT do things that idiotic anti-Semites suspect you of doing.

    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32103250/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/
    Among about 30 people arrested Thursday were Hoboken Mayor Peter Cammarano III, Secaucus Mayor Dennis Elwell, Jersey City Deputy Mayor Leona Beldini, former Jersey City Council President L. Harvey Smith and state Assemblyman Daniel Van Pelt.

    Van Pelt is accused of accepting $10,000 from a government witness posing as a developer seeking permit help.

    Smith, a former state assemblyman and Jersey City mayoral candidate who served four years as the city's council president, and several other current and former Jersey City public officials also are accused of accepting money to help the fake developer gain permits and approvals.

    In separate money-laundering complaints, several individuals from Brooklyn and New Jersey were charged with offenses ranging from the trafficking of kidneys from Israeli donors to laundering proceeds from selling fake Gucci and Prada bags. It was not immediately clear how the money-laundering arrests were connected to the corruption arrests.

    NBC affiliate WNBC reported that the kidney trafficking involved patients paying middlemen to find willing donors in Israel. Investigators allege that the suspects had donors and patients lie to hospitals by saying that they were related. Hospitals would do the operation unaware that cash payments were part of the deal.

    Couscous on
  • AegisAegis Fear My Dance Overshot Toronto, Landed in OttawaRegistered User regular
    edited July 2009
    OptimusZed wrote: »
    Malkor wrote: »
    I saw some local coverage this morning. Last i heard there were thirty-one people brought in, and more on the way.
    CNN's saying 44, and the guy giving the police press conference had a fairly long list of people who were out of state and would need tracked down.

    Edit: I'll add some scope to the OP.

    This is all part of New Jersey's plan on reducing the impact of the recession and ensuring they have money in the budget. Now they don't have to pay 44 public service salaries!

    Aegis on
    We'll see how long this blog lasts
    Currently DMing: None :(
    Characters
    [5e] Dural Melairkyn - AC 18 | HP 40 | Melee +5/1d8+3 | Spell +4/DC 12
  • nexuscrawlernexuscrawler Registered User regular
    edited July 2009
    I wonder if Healy is going down too

    Our deputy mayor is his campaign financier and she's charged with illegal campaign contributions for his election.

    Plus head of the City Council got nabbed too

    nexuscrawler on
  • OptimusZedOptimusZed Registered User regular
    edited July 2009
    Couscous wrote: »
    Archgarth wrote: »
    Demiurge wrote: »
    Jewish organ smugglers? Now I've seen it all.

    Dammit Jews! The point is to NOT do things that idiotic anti-Semites suspect you of doing.

    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32103250/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/
    Among about 30 people arrested Thursday were Hoboken Mayor Peter Cammarano III, Secaucus Mayor Dennis Elwell, Jersey City Deputy Mayor Leona Beldini, former Jersey City Council President L. Harvey Smith and state Assemblyman Daniel Van Pelt.

    Van Pelt is accused of accepting $10,000 from a government witness posing as a developer seeking permit help.

    Smith, a former state assemblyman and Jersey City mayoral candidate who served four years as the city's council president, and several other current and former Jersey City public officials also are accused of accepting money to help the fake developer gain permits and approvals.

    In separate money-laundering complaints, several individuals from Brooklyn and New Jersey were charged with offenses ranging from the trafficking of kidneys from Israeli donors to laundering proceeds from selling fake Gucci and Prada bags. It was not immediately clear how the money-laundering arrests were connected to the corruption arrests.

    NBC affiliate WNBC reported that the kidney trafficking involved patients paying middlemen to find willing donors in Israel. Investigators allege that the suspects had donors and patients lie to hospitals by saying that they were related. Hospitals would do the operation unaware that cash payments were part of the deal.
    Mind if I add this to the OP?

    OptimusZed on
    We're reading Rifts. You should too. You know you want to. Now With Ninjas!

    They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
  • YamiNoSenshiYamiNoSenshi A point called Z In the complex planeRegistered User regular
    edited July 2009
    My home state is so classy. The mayor of Hoboken is no surprise, having gone to school and lived there for years. The kind of shenanigans that the mayor vs the town council got up to is nuts. Not Albany senate nuts, but at least partially "petulant child" nuts. Like the city almost have no budget since the council rejected the proposal and never submitted their own. Aside from the organ thing, none of this is all that surprising. I don't know if I'm cynical, jaded, or just realistic about my state.

    YamiNoSenshi on
  • KalTorakKalTorak One way or another, they all end up in the Undercity.Registered User regular
    edited July 2009
    New T-shirt: Come to New Jersey - Have a Heart!

    KalTorak on
  • CouscousCouscous Registered User regular
    edited July 2009
    Mind if I add this to the OP?
    No.
    Aside from the organ thing, none of this is all that surprising.
    Well,, we aren't just talking about regular illegal political shit; we are talking about illegal shit that has little to do with politics other than involving politicians.

    Couscous on
  • HenroidHenroid Mexican kicked from Immigration Thread Centrism is Racism :3Registered User regular
    edited July 2009
    Couscous wrote: »
    Aside from the organ thing, none of this is all that surprising.
    Well,, we aren't just talking about regular illegal political shit; we are talking about illegal shit that has little to do with politics other than involving politicians.

    Not to mention how many were involved in this shit.

    Henroid on
  • OptimusZedOptimusZed Registered User regular
    edited July 2009
    KalTorak wrote: »
    New T-shirt: Come to New Jersey - Have a Heart!

    I [ ] New Jersey!

    OptimusZed on
    We're reading Rifts. You should too. You know you want to. Now With Ninjas!

    They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
  • HenroidHenroid Mexican kicked from Immigration Thread Centrism is Racism :3Registered User regular
    edited July 2009
    This is the kind of thing that'd happen in a made-for-TV movie. Oh I can't wait for the rights to this to be sold to some network for that.

    Henroid on
  • DemiurgeDemiurge Registered User regular
    edited July 2009
  • firewaterwordfirewaterword Satchitananda Pais Vasco to San FranciscoRegistered User regular
    edited July 2009
    Demiurge wrote: »
    Jewish organ smugglers? Now I've seen it all.

    Hasidim, but I don't believe 'em!

    firewaterword on
    Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu
  • CantidoCantido Registered User regular
    edited July 2009
    So this is how Dick Cheney was planning on living forever.

    Cantido on
    3DS Friendcode 5413-1311-3767
  • TalkaTalka Registered User regular
    edited July 2009
    Man, I just love my home state. So much humor to be had.

    "So three mayors, two state legislators, and several rabbis walk into an FBI interrogation room..."

    Somebody finish the joke, I got nothing.

    Talka on
  • CantidoCantido Registered User regular
    edited July 2009
    Talka wrote: »
    Man, I just love my home state. So much humor to be had.

    "So three mayors, two state legislators, and several rabbis walk into an FBI interrogation room..."

    Somebody finish the joke, I got nothing.

    There were no survivors.

    ...Nevermind. I use that for everything.

    Cantido on
    3DS Friendcode 5413-1311-3767
  • DemiurgeDemiurge Registered User regular
    edited July 2009
    Talka wrote: »
    Man, I just love my home state. So much humor to be had.

    "So three mayors, two state legislators, and several rabbis walk into an FBI interrogation room..."

    Somebody finish the joke, I got nothing.

    And the rabbis yell "Fuck you we got your hearts!" and everyone falls over dead?

    Demiurge on
    DQ0uv.png 5E984.png
  • OptimusZedOptimusZed Registered User regular
    edited July 2009
    Added a short list of some of the arrested from a DOJ release to OP.

    OptimusZed on
    We're reading Rifts. You should too. You know you want to. Now With Ninjas!

    They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
  • TalkaTalka Registered User regular
    edited July 2009
    Slightly off-topic NJ-related picture I took of a shirt I saw while strolling around Osaka yesterday:
    65326256238775732216143.jpg

    "New Jersey: #1
    Though it is difficult work there is joy in making things for that"

    Best Engrish and best (only?) pro-NJ shirt I'll ever find. I really should have bought it.

    Talka on
  • truck-a-saurastruck-a-sauras Registered User regular
    edited July 2009
    Maybe now people will stop telling me I'm a monster for not being an organ donor. All my wild claims of organ hungry psychos have been validated. Now if we can find all those corrupt officials who funnel money from the ridiculous property taxes in this state.

    truck-a-sauras on
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
    Steam
    XBOX
  • tallgeezetallgeeze Registered User regular
    edited July 2009
    I know it's early and backgrounds are still being looked at, but I'm confident one of these guys ran on an platform of ending corruption. It's just par for the course at this point.

    Any Hobokenians(Hobokenites?) know what your newly elected mayor promised you?

    tallgeeze on
  • TheScrupleTheScruple The Oldest of BridgesRegistered User regular
    edited July 2009
    Hooray for my city. I thought taking bribes for favorable contracts and real estate approval was just how the government operated here.
    If the FBI was in fact cracking down on it, I'm surprised there are any Hudson county officials who weren't arrested.

    Edit: Tallgeeze, Here's the guy's campaign site.

    http://www.cammarano09.com/

    Two of his "Key Issues" are "Transparent & Accountable Government", and "Responsible Development"

    TheScruple on
    All prairie dogs just want to be heroes
Sign In or Register to comment.