Star Ledger May
4, 2005
TOM FEENEY AND JOHN P. MARTIN
A millionaire developer became the latest casualty in a sweeping
corruption probe in Monmouth County yesterday when he was charged
by federal authorities with paying $143,500 in bribes to two
public officials.
Anthony Spalliero, 64, was arrested by federal agents yesterday
morning at his ex-wife's gated Holmdel mansion and charged with
four counts of making payments to public officials in exchange
for help in getting land-use, zoning and sewer approvals for
developments in fast-growing Marlboro Township.
In a criminal complaint filed yesterday, federal authorities
accused Spalliero of paying $135,000 to former Marlboro Mayor
Matthew Scannapieco and $8,500 to former Monmouth County Freeholder
Director Harry Larrison Jr.
"The actions alleged against this defendant are the kind
that corrupt the entire political system," U.S. Attorney
Christopher J. Christie said in a statement released by his
office. "They corrupt government, lay waste to our communities
and betray our trust. All those who violated our laws -- public
servants and businessmen alike -- will be held to account."
Scannapieco and Larrison already have been charged in connection
with the payments. Scannapieco pleaded guilty last month and
is awaiting sentencing. Larrison, whose failing health forced
him to give up his freeholder seat in December after 39 years,
was charged last week but has yet to make his first appearance
in court.
Spalliero was born in Naples, Italy. He moved to Newark with
his family and dropped out of high school when he was only 13.
He has resided for most of his life in Hazlet and Holmdel. In
recent years, he has split his time between homes in Florida
and Marlboro.
Spalliero and his immediate family have varied business interests.
They include a Marlboro cemetery and several go-go bars in Monmouth
and Middlesex counties.
Spalliero has had real estate interests in several towns, but
nowhere has his impact been felt as acutely as in Marlboro,
a sprawling township in the northwestern corner of Monmouth
County.
Marlboro has seen its population double since 1980. Nearly 3,000
building permits have been issued just in the past decade. Nearly
one in 17 new houses since the mid-1980s has been built on land
developed by Spalliero, said Mayor Robert Kleinberg. In a February
2003 interview with the Asbury Park Press, Spalliero estimated
that he had made more than $10 million speculating on land in
Marlboro.
Spalliero usually has not built the projects himself. Instead,
he and his associates have bought large tracts, had them approved
by planning and zoning boards and then sold the development
rights to builders, Kleinberg said.
Federal authorities accused Spalliero of greasing the path through
the approval process by paying money to officials in a position
to help him.
They say he paid a $100,000 bribe to Scannapieco in 2001 and
2002 for his help in securing zoning and land-use approvals
for an age-restricted housing development at the site of the
former Marlboro Airport. (The development was never built.)
Scannapieco -- who as mayor not only sat on the planning board
but also appointed all but one of the other members -- took
a $10,000 payment from Spalliero for help with a railroad easement
for a development on Dutch Lane and a $25,000 payment for help
with land-use approvals for a retail store on Route 9, the criminal
complaint alleges.
That total -- $135,000 -- is less than the $245,000 Scannapieco
already admitted taking from an unnamed developer, whom authorities
identified as Spalliero. The reason for the discrepancy is the
way the two men were charged. Scannapieco was charged with participating
in a bribery scheme that included six payments, three of which
were made in 1999 or earlier. Spalliero was charged with specific
counts of bribery, rather than with a bribery scheme. He could
not be charged with the older counts because they were beyond
the statute of limitations.
Spalliero also is charged with making two payments to Larrison
-- a $5,000 payment in 2001 or 2002, and a $3,500 payment in
2002 or 2003. Both payments allegedly were arranged by a county
official who was not named in the complaint but who has been
identified by sources as Tony Palughi, a Larrison confidant.
The complaint alleges that the $3,500 payment was turned over
to Palughi by an unnamed developer. Sources identified that
man as Terry Sherman, Spalliero's partner in the Marlboro Airport
project. Sherman told Palughi to thank Larrison for his help
in getting one of his Marlboro developments approved, according
to the complaint.
"A lot of people in Marlboro didn't think anybody would
ever be arrested," said Kleinberg, who ran for mayor in
2003 as an anti-corruption candidate. "Hopefully, this
is a signal to those nonbelievers that you can't get away with
breaking the law in Marlboro anymore."
After his arrest yesterday at 6:30 a.m., Spalliero was taken
to the U.S. District Court in Newark. He made his initial appearance
in front of U.S. Magistrate Judge Ronald Hedges at 2:30 p.m.
His son, Joseph -- who was charged with bank fraud by Christie's
office in March -- was in court to watch the proceeding.
Hedges released Spalliero on $250,000 bail after the developer
agreed to post as equity an Aberdeen home owned by another of
his sons, Vincent. He restricted his travel to New Jersey and
Florida. Spalliero's attorney, Christopher Kinum, told Hedges
that his client needs to travel periodically to Florida because
he is receiving treatment for coronary disease from specialists
near Cape Coral.
Kinum said after the proceeding that neither he nor the Spallieros
would comment on the charges.
Spalliero becomes the 18th person charged by Christie's office
since last fall in connection with public corruption in Monmouth
County. Four of those have been involved with development questions
in Marlboro -- Spalliero, Scannapieco, Larrison and Richard
Vuola, a Spalliero associate and former head of the township
municipal authority.
The other 14, most of them elected or appointed officials, have
been charged with taking bribes or laundering the proceeds of
a phony loansharking business as part of a federal sting called
"Operation Bid Rig."
"I and many others have spent the last decades telling
everybody what a clean and green Monmouth County we have,"
said former county Republican Chairman William Dowd. "To
have it all called into serious question by a bunch of bums
is nauseating."
