Jan.15, 2010

A Brooklyn developer arrested in July in the federal corruption sting pleaded guilty yesterday to conspiring to launder money in order to bribe a Union City official.

The charges do not name the public official, but campaign finance reports show a contribution from a Union City charity was funneled in 2007 to state Sen. Brian Stack, who is also mayor of Union City.

Mark Albiez, a spokesman for Stack, said Stack never met with the developer or his co-conspirators.

"He (Stack) gets thousands of donations, a lot of them are mailed in," Albiez said.

Albiez said Stack donated the contribution to a domestic violence shelter in the fall after learning through media reports the funds might be tainted.

Shimon Haber, 34, of Brooklyn, pleaded guilty yesterday before U.S. District Judge Jose L. Linares in Newark to one count of conspiracy to launder money to conceal and promote unlawful activity.

Haber is one of 44 people charged in the sweeping political corruption and money laundering scheme July 23. He is the 10th to plead guilty.

In pleading guilty, he admitted meeting with failed Monmouth County developer Solomon Dwek and co-conspirators Michael Altman, 39, of Monsey, N.Y., and Isaac Friedlander, 42, of Union City, to launder money.

Dwek had been charged with bank fraud in May 2006 and was working with the FBI at the time of the meeting, posing as developer interested in building in the Union City area.

Haber admitted conspiring with Altman and Friedlander to accept funds from Dwek and using the Union City charity Gmach Shefa Chaim to funnel the funds to a Union City official in exchange for development approvals for a project Haber and Dwek were partners in.

Campaign finance reports on file with the state Election Law Enforcement Commission show a $2,500 donation on May 8, 2007 from David Schwartz, of Gmach Shefa Chaim, to Stack's senatorial campaign fund.

"If these guys are saying they gave money to Stack's campaign, they probably did," Stack's attorney, Dennis McAlevy, said yesterday. "But to say it was with any sort of promise is ludicrous."

Haber admitted in court he conspired to launder between $10,000 and $30,000.

Altman and Friedlander have also been charged. Their cases are pending.

Haber faces a maximum 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. He was released on $100,000 bond pending his April 28 sentencing.