Huge Corruption|Sweep in New Jersey

NEWARK (CN) - The mayors of Hoboken and Secaucus were arrested today, along with a state assemblyman and dozens of others in an FBI investigation of political corruption. Those arrested included the commissioner of the state's Department of Community Affairs and several rabbis, according to wire reports.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Newark said it would elucidate things at an afternoon press conference. Among those arrested, according to The New York Times, were Joseph Doria Jr., commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs and a former mayor of Bayonne; Hoboken Mayor Peter Cammarano III; Secaucus Mayor Dennis Elwell; Assemblyman Dan Van Pelt of Forked River; and rabbis from Deal and Elberon, N.J., and Brooklyn.

The investigation involves the Deal Yeshiva, a religious school, according to the Asbury Park Press.

The Times reported that the president of the Jersey City Council, Mariano Vega, and the city's deputy mayor, Leona Beldini, were "brought to the Newark office of the FBI." It was not clear whether those officials were arrested.

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