44 arrested for corruption in New Jersey

NEWARK, New Jersey: Critics decried political corruption in New Jersey after more than 40 people, among them rabbis, mayors and other elected officeholders, were arrested for corruption. The accusations ranged from laundering tens of millions of dollars to black-market trafficking of kidneys and fake Gucci handbags.

The 44 arrests on Thursday were a remarkable number even for New Jersey, where more than 130 public officials have pleaded guilty or have been convicted of corruption since 2001.

"New Jersey's corruption problem is one of the worst, if not the worst, in the nation," said Ed Kahrer, who heads the FBI's white-collar and public corruption division. "Corruption is a cancer that is destroying the core values of this state."