Princeton Attorneys Say Corzine Violated Senate Ethics Codes

Matthew Hersh

Two Princeton attorneys have filed an ethics complaint against U.S. Sen. Jon Corzine (D-NJ), alleging that the gubernatorial candidate did not disclose a half-a-million dollar mortgage loan to a New Jersey union leader.

Township residents Carl Mayer and Bruce Afran claim that Mr. Corzine falsified a disclosure document regarding a $470,000 loan to then-girlfriend Carla Katz, president of the Communications Workers of America Local 1034. Mr. Corzine, who has acknowledged loaning the money to Ms. Katz, cancelled the loan in he early stages of his bid for governor.

In analyzing the senator's financial disclosure forms, Mr. Mayer said he found no disclosure of the assets loaned to Ms. Katz. "In 2001 and 2002, he did not disclose, as required by the Ethics in Government Act of 1978, the assets of JSC investments," Mr. Mayer said, referring to the Senator's JSC Investments, one of Mr. Corzine's investment companies that was responsible for Ms. Katz's loan.

The Corzine campaign quickly dismissed the lawsuit as "frivolous and silly."

Mr. Mayer, a former Independent on Township Committee between 1995 and 1997, called for an end of "frequent violations of criminal law" in New Jersey politics, adding that Mr. Corzine's actions qualified as "criminal.

"If the disclosure forms are knowingly and willingly falsified, then it is a crime."

Mr. Mayer and Mr. Afran are both former candidates for various levels of state and local government. In 2004, the two attorneys were involved in an unsuccessful bid to force a special gubernatorial election before then-Gov. James McGreevey stepped down amid controversies regarding illegal fund-raising and an extra-marital affair.