TRENTON
– Attorney General Paula T. Dow and
Criminal Justice Director Stephen J. Taylor
announced that a health inspector employed
by the City of East Orange has been arrested
for allegedly soliciting a bribe from the
owner of a small grocery store.
According
to Director Taylor, Enock Moochi, 51, of
Jersey City, an East Orange Health Inspector,
was charged yesterday by complaint warrant
with second-degree bribery. He faces a maximum
sentence of 10 years in state prison if
convicted of the charge, including a mandatory
minimum term of five years in prison without
possibility of parole under New Jersey’s
penalty enhancements for public corruption.
Moochi was arrested yesterday as a result
of an investigation by the New Jersey State
Police and the Division of Criminal Justice.
Moochi
allegedly solicited a $1,000 bribe from
the owner of a small grocery store in East
Orange last week, telling the owner that
he would overlook health code violations
that he had found in return for the bribe.
Moochi allegedly agreed to accept the bribe
in two separate payments of $500. He allegedly
received one $500 payment from the food
mart owner on Thursday, June 30. He allegedly
received the second $500 payment yesterday.
Moochi was arrested at the store yesterday
by detectives of the State Police Official
Corruption Bureau after he allegedly received
the second payment from the owner.
Because
the charge is an indictable offense, the
case will be presented to a grand jury for
potential indictment. The complaint is merely
an accusation and the defendant is presumed
innocent until proven guilty. Moochi was
released without posting bail after being
processed on the charge.
The
investigation was conducted by Acting Lt.
Glenn Lubertazzi, Acting Detective Sgt.
First Class Geoffrey Forker, Acting Detective
Sgt. Lisa King, Acting Detective Sgt. Mario
DiRienzo, Detective Brian Murphy, Detective
Oliver Sissman and Detective Pablo Castro
of the State Police Official Corruption
Bureau North Unit, and Deputy Attorney General
Richard Queen of the Division of Criminal
Justice Corruption Bureau. The U.S. Department
of Homeland Security provided assistance
in the investigation.
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