Overheard in New York: A five-year-old girl, gets off the train to Grand Central Station, holds her nose and says to mother: “It smells here! It smells like New Jersey! Mommy! It smells like New Jersey!”
Now breaking via news outlets throughout the world: Authorities feel something else apparently smells in New Jersey, so today some 30 people that included mayors and even some rabbis have been arrested in a corruption probe:
About 30 people, including some New Jersey mayors and several rabbis, were arrested Thursday in a federal investigation of public corruption, the U.S. attorney’s office in Newark, New Jersey, said.
The probe also involves a “high-volume, international money-laundering conspiracy,” according to a statement from the office.
Among those arrested in the public corruption portion of the investigation are Hoboken Mayor Peter Cammarano III, Secaucus Mayor Dennis Elwell, New Jersey Assemblyman Daniel Van Pelt and Leona Beldini, a Jersey City deputy mayor.
Several rabbis in New York and New Jersey also were arrested in connection with the money-laundering portion of the investigation.
New Jersey’s Star-Ledger has a piece that includes pictures of some of the state’s prominent citizens in handcuffs. It includes this additional info:
A New Jersey assemblyman and the mayors of Hoboken and Secaucus were among public officials arrested this morning by FBI agents in an international money laundering and corruption probe that includes rabbis in the Syrian Jewish communities of Deal and Brooklyn.
Assemblyman Daniel Van Pelt (R-Ocean), Hoboken Mayor Peter Cammarano, Secaucus Mayor Dennis Elwell and Jersey City Council President Mariano Vega are among those already brought to the FBI building in Newark. Jersey City Deputy Mayor Leona Beldini has also been arrested.
The arrests are the result of a two-year FBI and IRS probe that began with an investigation of money transfers by members of the Syrian enclaves in Deal and Brooklyn. Those arrested this morning include key religious leaders in the tight-knit, wealthy communities.
The federal investigation then expanded into a public corruption probe.
No indictments have been released, though court appearances are expected later today in U.S. District Court in Newark. Nearly 20 people have already been led into the FBI building in Newark as the sweep continues to unfold in two states.
Agents also raided religious institutions to make arrests and collect information.
The Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office and the IRS took out at least three boxes from the Deal Yeshiva, as students were arriving at school. The Deal Yeshiva, on the corner of Brighton and Norwood avenues, is a prestigious religious school in town.
Authorities also searched the Ohel Yaacob synagogue on Ocean Avenue in Deal and removed several boxes.
Go to the link above to see the photos and to read the report in its entirety.
UPDATE: MSNBC offers this breaking news report:
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.