Former Bergen County Democratic leader Joseph Ferriero indicted in racketeering scheme
Wednesday, September 11, 2013 Last updated: Thursday September 12, 2013, 12:22 AM
BY PETER J. SAMPSON
STAFF WRITER
The Record
Joseph A. Ferriero abused his power and influence as the chairman of Bergen County’s Democratic Party by engaging in bribery, kickback and shakedown schemes, including a plot to extort $1.7 million from a prior developer of the Meadowlands retail and entertainment project now known as American Dream, a federal grand jury alleged Wednesday.
Ferriero, 56, once among the state’s most powerful political leaders, was indicted on federal racketeering charges, accused of soliciting monthly bribes of $35,000 from a Virginia-based real estate investment trust that developed the Meadowlands project, formerly known as Xanadu.
The trust made the payments through its Teaneck law firm from 2002 to 2006 in exchange for Ferriero’s help in securing endorsements and official support, and to prevent him and others from opposing the project, the indictment alleges.
The indictment comes three years after Ferriero walked out of court a free man when a judge set aside his previous conviction in a scheme to profit from his secret ownership of a grants-writing business that worked for local governments in North Jersey.