Gov. James E. McGreevey's top contributor was charged on Tuesday in a bizarre scheme to enlist prostitutes in an effort to silence potential witnesses in a federal investigation of possible illegal campaign contributions.
| We're discussing New Jersey here. How is this unusual? |
In a criminal complaint that reads like a plot line from an Elmore Leonard novel, Charles Kushner, a New Jersey landowner and businessman with close ties to many religious and political figures, was charged with hiring prostitutes to entice his brother-in-law and his accountant into sexually compromising situations.
'Hi! I'm a hooker! Yer brother-in-law sent me to haul yer ashes!"
"What's with the camera and the tape recorder?" |
The complaint says that the accountant did not take the bait, but that the brother-in-law did.
| "Hey! Kinkyyyy! I'll set up the camera while you get nekkid!" |
The result, prosecutors said, was a sexual encounter between the brother-in-law and a high-priced New York call girl in a Bridgewater motel room last December that was recorded by a hidden camera. The complaint, which mentions no name except Mr. Kushner's, says that he and his co-conspirators mailed the incriminating tape to a relative with whom he was feuding and who was cooperating with investigators. Based on the allegations in a separate civil suit, that family member is believed to be Mr. Kushner's sister, Esther Schulder. Her husband, William E. Schulder, did not return calls seeking confirmation that he was involved.
| "Honey, it's the Noo Yawk Times. They wanna know if that's you on that tape with the Jolly Green Giant cream corn!" |
Robert Yontef, the accountant, could not be reached either.
| "I'm an accountant. I don't do that sort of thing." |
The mailing, according to the complaint, was an attempt to "retaliate" against the potential witnesses and block any further cooperation.
| In Noo Joisey? That's never happened before, has it? |
The complaint against Mr. Kushner, the chief executive of the Kushner Companies of Florham Park, is likely to add to the political troubles of Governor McGreevey, who has been plagued throughout his two and a half years in office with questions about his associates. The governor, a Democrat, is still reeling from the fallout from a federal indictment last week involving another campaign contributor and a top fund-raiser, and has been plagued by a long list of scandals involving people close to him.
| The word you're looking for is "seedy." |
This week there is growing pressure for his commerce secretary, William J. Watley, to step down after a state criminal investigation into possible improprieties by a top aide. Mr. McGreevey has had a close relationship with Mr. Kushner, who has been the largest contributor to his campaigns over the years, purchasing him for donating $1.5 million for his 1997 and 2001 campaigns, the first one unsuccessful, for governor. After the announcement of Mr. Kushner's arrest, Mr. McGreevey's director of communications, Kathleen Ellis, took the gas pipe released a statement saying: "We are saddened to hear of the allegations. It would be inappropriate however to comment further on matters unrelated to this office." |