时事资讯:美国新泽西州三市长涉嫌腐败被捕

【英文原文】

44 Charged In NJ Corruption,Money-Laundering Probe

摘要：新泽西州从来不缺少腐败丑闻，但昨天曝出的这起丑闻即便以该州的标准来看都令人惊讶。

New Jersey has never been short of corruption scandals, but the one that unfolded yesterday was surprising even by the standards of the state that inspired 'The Sopranos.'

Federal agents swept across New Jersey and New York on Thursday, charging 44 people -- including mayors, rabbis, and even one alleged trafficker in human kidneys -- in a decadelong investigation into public corruption and international money-laundering.

The key to the investigation: a real-estate developer who became an informant after being arrested on bank-fraud charges in 2006, according to a person familiar with the case. The developer, Solomon Dwek, wore a wire for the Federal Bureau of Investigation while offering to bribe New Jersey mayors and other public officials, that person said.

A lawyer for Mr. Dwek didn't respond to requests for comment.

The arrests in the public-corruption portion of the probe included the Democratic mayors of Hoboken and Secaucus, Peter Cammarano III and Dennis Elwell; Republican state Assemblyman Daniel Van Pelt; and Democrat Leona Beldini, the deputy mayor of Jersey City.

A woman who picked up the phone at Mr. Van Pelt's office said, 'Mr. Van Pelt was arrested today and is out of the office.' His lawyer declined to comment.

Mr. Cammarano's lawyer said he 'intends to plead innocent because he is innocent.'

At the arraignment, Ms. Beldini said she didn't violate taxpayers' trust and declined to comment further while leaving the courthouse. Mr. Elwell and his lawyer declined to comment.

Arrests on the investigation's money-laundering side include several rabbis in New York and New Jersey, said to Ralph Marra Jr., acting U.S. attorney for New Jersey. The arrestees were arraigned in federal court in New Jersey Thursday afternoon.