Union City real estate developer indicted in massive NJ corruption probe
By The Jersey JournalA Union City-based real estate developer was indicted today on 41 counts of money laundering and corruption offenses as part of the massive New Jersey corruption scandal, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman said.
The indictment describes a scheme in which Moshe "Michael'' Altman, 39, of Monsey, N.Y., along with his coconspirators, “washed” approximately $668,000 in dirty checks to cash for government informant Solomon Dwek through purported charities.
According to the indictment, from February 2007 to July 2009, Altman and his co-conspirators engaged in some 15 separate money laundering transactions in which they laundered checks that they , which they understood to be proceeds of crime, by returning approximately $547,350 in cash to Dwek, who had posed as a real estate developer and was on the witness stand today in the corruption trial of suspended Jersey City Deputy Mayor Leona Beldini.
The indictment alleges that, during the undercover operation, Dwek told Altman that the checks were proceeds of bank fraud and a counterfeit handbag business, and that the proceeds needed to be concealed from a federal bankruptcy trustee and bankruptcy court.
Altman converted the checks to cash in order to conceal their purported illegal origins, the indictment alleges. Altman allegedly collected a 15 percent fee for himself and his co-conspirators.
Implicated in the indictment as co-conspirators were Shimon Haber, 34, of Brooklyn, and Itzhak Friedlander, 42, of Union City.
The indictment also charges Altman with participating in a scheme to bribe a Jersey City official, John Guarini, 60, to obtain approvals on real estate projects that Dwek purportedly planned to develop.
Altman is accused of arranging a meeting between Guarini and Dwek during which Guarini accepted two envelopes containing a total of $20,000.
According to the Indictment, Guarini, in order to create the pretext of an inspection, stated,
“Everything looks good here.”Guarini was indicted on Jan. 12 in connection with bribes from Altman and others.
[Hat Tip: Chaim.]