US corruption probe nets dozens
BBC NEWS | Americas | US corruption probe nets dozens
More than 40 people, including politicians, officials and several rabbis have been arrested in a major FBI operation the US. Three mayors from the state of New Jersey and two members of the state legislature were among those held.
One man is accused of alleged kidney trafficking involving Israeli donors.
Three hundred FBI agents raided dozens of locations in New Jersey and New York as part of a 10-year probe into corruption and money laundering.
Prosecutors say the arrests were part of a "dual-tracked" investigation.
Acting US Attorney Ralph Marra told reporters there were 29 suspects on what he termed the "public corruption" side of the investigation, including the politicians.
On the other side, he said, there were 15 suspects in connection with alleged international money-laundering, including the rabbis and their "associates".
'Vulnerable people'
Prosecutors accuse one man of dealing in human kidneys from Israeli donors for transplant for a decade.
It's alleged that "vulnerable people" would give up a kidney for $10,000 (£6,000) and these would then be sold on for $160,000 (£97,000).
https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2005/11/91.jpgARRESTED
Hoboken Mayor Peter Cammarano
Secaucus Mayor Dennis Elwell
Jersey City Deputy Mayor Leona Beldini
Ridgefield Mayor Anthony Suarez
State legislator Harvey Smith
State legislator Daniel Van Pelt
Rabbi Eliahu Ben Haim, Deal, NJ
Rabbi Saul Kassin, Brooklyn, NY
Rabbi Edmund Nahum, Deal, NJ
Rabbi Mordechai Fish, Brooklyn, NY
Law enforcement officials say investigations originally focused on a network they allege laundered tens of millions of dollars through charities controlled by rabbis in New Jersey and neighbouring New York.
It widened to include alleged official corruption with links to a New Jersey construction boom.
State legislators Harvey Smith and Daniel Van Pelt were also arrested.
Mr Marra said: "It seemed that everyone wanted a piece of the action. The corruption was widespread and pervasive. Corruption was a way of life for the accused."
He said politicians had "willingly put themselves up for sale" and clergymen had "cloaked their extensive criminal activity behind a facade of rectitude".
The BBC's Jane O'Brien says the money laundering ring reportedly spanned the US, Israel and Switzerland.
Jon Corzine, the Governor of New Jersey, said: "The scale of corruption we're seeing as this unfolds is simply outrageous and cannot be tolerated."
Ed Kahrer, an FBI agent who has worked on the investigation from the start, said: "New Jersey's corruption problem is one of the worst, if not the worst, in the nation.
"It has become ingrained in New Jersey's political culture," he said.
Another FBI agent said: "The list of people we arrested sounds like it should be the roster for a meeting of community leaders, but sadly they weren't meeting in a boardroom this morning, they were in the FBI booking room."
Correspondents say the number of people arrested is large even by New Jersey standards, where more than 130 public officials have either admitted to corruption or been found guilty of it since 2001
