State’s Star Witness Tied Fulop to Pay-to-Play Scheme, AG’s Office Declined to Pursue Case

Back in December 2019, under the leadership of then-Attorney General Gurbir Grewal, the AG’s Office announced criminal charges against five public officials and political candidates as part of a “Major Corruption Investigation” that made big headlines:

• New Jersey officials busted for taking bribes stuffed in coffee cups, paper bags – New York Post
• Bags, envelopes and a coffee cup stuffed with cash: New Jersey’s latest corruption bust – Politico
• 5 New Jersey officials, candidates face political corruption charges – ABC 7 NY

Court documents obtained by HudPost reveal that the state’s cooperating witness, attorney Matt O’Donnell, confessed to multiple schemes and identified numerous co-conspirators that were never prosecuted.

Simply put, it could be argued that instead of pursuing pay-to-play cases against prominent targets, the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General (NJOAG) chose to go on a fishing expedition using cash bribes to bait low-hanging fruit. Perhaps no greater example of that argument occurred in Jersey City – where Mayor Steven Fulop was spared and Board of Education Pres. Sudhan Thomas was ensnared.

On February 16, 2018, in a proffer session with the NJOAG, O’Donnell told investigators that straw contributions (illegal political donations funneled through third parties) to Fulop’s first mayoral campaign were part of a pay-to-play scheme that resulted in him becoming Jersey City’s tax appeal attorney after Fulop took office in 2013, according to Det. Kristin Maier’s report.

The Jersey Journal reported that the “lucrative gig” made $260,720 for O’Donnell’s law firm in 2015 alone.

O’Donnell said he was initially approached by “campaign manager” Ray Ferraioli of H&P Consulting in 2011 about giving money towards Fulop’s first mayoral campaign, per Maier’s report. He further claimed a group of attorneys and engineers were asked to help raise $10,000.00 to $20,000.00 each and they were assured a job – which the detective notes was “not communicated explicitly.”

Ferraioli did not respond to an email from HudPost asking 1) if the AG’s Office ever contacted him regarding O’Donnell and 2) if he recalled raising funds from O’Donnell or individuals associated with him for Fulop’s 2013 campaign.

Politico NJ reported in 2015 that Ferraioli “never registered as a fundraiser with the state Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC)” – which was apparently in violation of campaign finance regulations. The article reported that Ferraioli was a fundraiser for Fulop.

In response to questions from HudPost, the mayor’s press secretary stated Fulop was unaware of O’Donnell’s admission to investigators, claimed “at no point did [Fulop] ever have a conversation with Matt O’Donnell or Ray Farioli [sic],” and said contracts in Jersey City are awarded via a fair and open process, which “undermines” O’Donnell’s claim.

Regarding Ferraioli, the press secretary added “while Ray has not worked for the mayor for nearly a decade, it should be noted Ray currently works for the NJ State Democratic Party, the Democratic State Assembly Office, and a host of Democratic candidates throughout NJ, so we assume if there were a shred of truth to any of this Ray wouldn’t be working in those capacities.”

The AG’s Office did not respond to an email asking why prosecutors declined to pursue cases against Fulop or Ferraioli using O’Donnell and his straw donors as state witnesses.