Indictments
By at least late October 2008, Vas and his entire mayoral administration were under investigation by state and federal law enforcement.
On March 11, 2009, New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram announced that a grand jury had indicted Vas on eleven counts, including conspiracy, official misconduct, bid-rigging and tampering with records. Following the indictment, Governor of New Jersey Jon Corzine issued a joint statement with Assembly Speaker Joseph J. Roberts and state Democratic Party Chairman Joseph Cryan demanding that Vas step down from office. The statement cited "serious public corruption charges" related to Vas's use of Perth Amboy funds to pay for thousands of dollars in personal expenses while serving as mayor.
On May 20, 2009, Vas and his longtime top mayoral aide, Melvin Ramos, were indicted by a federal grand jury for six counts of mail fraud, one count of misapplication of funds, two counts of making false statements to the Federal Election Commission, one count of making false statements to federal agents, and one count of making contributions to a federal candidate in the name of others. The indictment charges that Vas bought a 12-unit apartment building on DeKalb Avenue in December 2005 for $660,000, well below its assessed value of $955,000. Five months later Vas allegedly "flipped" the property for $950,000, inducing a contractor to buy it by promising public money – including Regional Contribution Agreement (RCA) funds to help pay for the building’s renovation. He then allegedly instructed city employees to submit a resolution to the council that would provide $360,000 in RCA funds for the property. It was approved in June 2006. Even before COAH approved the payment, Vas allegedly jumped through bureaucratic hoops to make sure the contractor got a $90,000 advance on the funds. On January 11, 2007, according to the indictment, Vas coerced the city’s Assistant Personnel Officer to approve that advance, naming him Acting Business Administrator so he would have the authority to do so.
On May 21, 2009, Vas, Ramos, and others were again indicted by a state grand jury, this time on nineteen counts including official misconduct and conspiracy.
On April 12, 2011, Vas was sentenced in federal court to a 6 1/2 year prison term on his corruption conviction.
Read more about this topic: Joseph Vas