An interesting story….
Via CNN:
The New Jersey officials and their associates charged in a federal probe of public corruption exchanged hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes in parking lots, restaurants, boiler rooms and bathrooms, an acting U.S. attorney said Thursday.
The investigation netted 44 defendants — 29 on corruption charges and 15 for alleged money laundering, acting U.S. Attorney Ralph Marra Jr. said at a news conference.
Defendants were to begin appearing Thursday afternoon in U.S. District Court in Newark.
Among the 15 are five rabbis, including the national leader of the Syrian Jewish community. They are alleged to have laundered more than $3 million in a “high-volume, international money-laundering conspiracy,” Marra said. Their alleged dealings stretched to Israel and Switzerland.
“These complaints paint a disgraceful picture of religious leaders heading money-laundering crews, acting as crime bosses. They used purported charities … as vehicles for laundering millions of dollars in illicit funds,” Marra said.
The rabbis named in the indictments are accused of setting up charitable tax-exempt organizations at their synagogues that they used to launder money.
According to the indictments, a confidential witness working for federal authorities approached the rabbis and offered to make donations to the charities in return for the rabbis writing back a check to the undercover agent. The rabbis collected a fee for the service by writing a smaller check back, sometimes returning $45,000 for a $50,000 donation to the charity, the indictments said.
Charges against the rabbis include bankruptcy fraud, bank fraud and trafficking in counterfeit goods.
Marra said more than $650,000 in bribes was paid to those accused in the criminal complaints. “And the politicians willingly put themselves up for sale,” he said.
I suppose that some of you think that I am going to go on some sort of Anti-Semite rant here, right? Well, Surprise. š
Anyone that would use this simple case of corruption to say something to the effect of, “See? All ‘dem Jews are corrupt!”; has got a serious problem. Ā Corruption is corruption and it does not discriminate against race, color or creed. White Anglo Saxon’s are just capableĀ of being corrupt; as Jews, Blacks, Latinos, or any other race. Anyone that says a anything other than this, is either; 1. Stupid or 2. Anti-Semitic or a racist bigot. (I know, redundency)
So, let me go on record as being quite happy that the justice system is actually, in this case, doing what it is supposed to; for a change.