Anthony J. Christaldi owns a piece of land in Atlantic City which he was trying to sell to the land redevelopment program of the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority (CRDA) last year.
He applied to the agen_cy (Get to know the agency's role at: http://www.njcrda.com/), proposing to receive $157,500 for his property. However, his application has been rejected because the agency thought his price was too high.
After hearing this, he called up an unnamed official and told her he would reduce the price to more than half the original amount—to $75,000 to be more specific—and submit new paper works.
According to the state Attorney General’s office, Christaldi went to see the official with an envelope containing the new paper works, $1,000 in cash, and a note that said he would pay the official $9,000 to $15,000 more if she could get his applications approved faster and at a higher price.
But it wasn’t the right move—his assumption about the official was wrong. Very wrong.
Acting Attorney General, John Hoffman, said: “Christaldi assumed the official he encountered would shell out more public funds for his benefit as long as she got a cut.”
The unnamed official told her legal department about what happened which in turn alerted the state Division of Criminal Justice.
According to law enforcement officials, an officer went undercover and posed as the CRDA official’s brother. He accepted the bribe worth $9,000 from Christaldi. It was then that detectives arrested the 69-year old land owner.
Christaldi was found guilty of second-degree bribery by a Cape May County jury and will be sentenced on December 4. He could face from five up to ten years of imprisonment and a fine of up to $150,000.