TRENTON - Attorney General
Anne Milgram and Criminal Justice Director
Deborah L. Gramiccioni announced that Cassandra
Clark, the former vice president of the Atlantic
City Council, was indicted today for voting
to sell city land to a straw purchaser who
had agreed to buy the land for Clark and deed
it to a corporation Clark owned.
According to Director Gramiccioni,
Clark, 52, of Linwood, was indicted by a state
grand jury on a second-degree charge of official
misconduct. Second-degree crimes carry a maximum
sentence of 10 years in state prison and a
$150,000 fine. The indictment is the result
of an ongoing investigation by the New Jersey
State Police Official Corruption Bureau and
the Division of Criminal Justice Corruption
Bureau.
“State law strictly
prohibits self-dealing by public office holders
in their official actions,” said Attorney
General Milgram. “Ms. Clark shamelessly
violated her duties in order to acquire this
city land for a fraction of what it was worth.
We will hold public officials who break the
law accountable.”
Clark was a member of the
Atlantic City Council from January 2002 through
December 2006. On July 10, 2002, while serving
as council vice president, she voted for the
city to sell two adjacent, undeveloped lots
at the corner of Baltic Avenue and North Maryland
Avenue (823 Baltic Avenue and 203 North Maryland
Avenue) for a total of $6,000, or $3,000 per
parcel.
Clark allegedly concealed
the fact that she had previously given $6,000
to the purported high bidder and had arranged
for that woman to deed the land to her. The
purchaser was a friend and business associate
who is not identified in the indictment. The
total fair market value of the two lots was
assessed in 1980 at more than $20,000, and
in 2008 at more than $110,000. Clark, who
was a councilwoman-at-large, was a real estate
speculator who had previously acquired a number
of other properties in Atlantic City.
Three days after the city
council voted to sell the land, the purchaser
executed a deed to convey the land to Rose
Garden Research LLC, a company owned by Clark.
That deed was executed before the purchaser
actually received title to the property from
the city. However, a second deed was allegedly
prepared by Clark in August 2003 conveying
the land from the purchaser to Clark herself,
not the company, for $1. Clark waited until
2004 to have the deeds recorded.
“We allege that Ms.
Clark arranged a sham purchase to hide her
unlawful acquisition of this city property,”
said Director Gramiccioni. “Her deception
was exposed by detectives and attorneys from
the State Police and Division of Criminal
Justice who diligently traced her actions.”
The case was presented to
the state grand jury by Deputy Attorneys General
Robert Czepiel Jr. and Peter Lee of the Division
of Criminal Justice Corruption Bureau.
The investigation was conducted
for the New Jersey State Police Official Corruption
Bureau, Southern Office, by Detective Sgt.
1st Class Robert Schulte, Detective Sgt. Karl
Ulbrich, Detective Sgt. David A. Smith and
Detective John Scalabrini. It was conducted
for the Division of Criminal Justice Corruption
Bureau by Detectives Anthony Luyber, Edward
Augustyn and John Sheeran, and by Special
Investigator Maureen Graham and Analyst Alison
Callery.
The indictment was handed
up to Superior Court Judge Pedro J. Jimenez
Jr. in Mercer County, who assigned it to Atlantic
County, where Clark will be ordered to appear
in court at a later date to answer the charges.
The indictment is merely an
accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent
until proven guilty. A copy of the indictment
is available with this press release at www.njpublicsafety.com.
Attorney
General Milgram noted that the Division of
Criminal Justice - Corruption Bureau has established
a toll-free Corruption Tipline for the public
to report corruption, financial crime and
other illegal activities. The statewide Corruption
Tipline is 1-866-TIPS-4CJ.
Additionally, the public can log on to the
Division of Criminal Justice Web site at www.njdcj.org
to report suspected wrongdoing. All information
received through the Division of Criminal
Justice Corruption Tipline or Web page will
remain confidential.
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