Newark mayor, ex-campaign treasurer fined $30K over election law violations
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka and a former campaign staffer who in 2018 pleaded guilty to embezzling over $220,000 in campaign funds were fined more than $30,000 for the finance violations, the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission announced Wednesday.
The commission found 264 reporting violations in disclosures submitted by Frederick Murphy, who served as treasurer for Baraka’s 2014 mayoral bid.
Murphy was sentenced to 30 months in jail in 2018 after being admitting he embezzled funds from campaign accounts belonging to Baraka and his slate of council candidates by cashing checks bearing forged signatures belonging to consultants and vendors in what prosecutors described as a layered fraud scheme.
Baraka, a Democrat in his second term leading New Jersey’s largest city, told the commission he was not aware of Murphy’s violations, which included tax evasion, wire fraud, and bank fraud charges.
Read more: https://newjerseymonitor.com/briefs/newark-mayor-ex-campaign-treasurer-fined-30k-over-election-law-violations/