Tuesday, April 26, 2011

http://www.nj.com/news/jjournal/guttenberg/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1303800008286320.xml&coll=3

NEWARK - Former Guttenberg councilman, police officer and school board member Vincent Tabbachino pleaded guilty in federal court yesterday to laundering about $125,000 that he believed was criminal proceeds, officials said.

In October, Tabbachino was convicted of one count each of attempted extortion and bribery for funneling a $10,000 bribe from FBI informant Solomon Dwek to Ridgefield Mayor Anthony Suarez. After four days of deliberations, the jury in that trial found Suarez not guilty.

 Yesterday, Tabbachino, 69, of Fairview, admitted that in February 2009 he agreed to launder the funds that Dwek told him were the proceeds of a counterfeit handbag business, in exchange for a 10 percent cut, officials said. He engaged in four separate transactions, one for $50,000 and three for $25,000, officials said.

Dwek was the government's informant at the center of the Operation Bid Rig III sting that led to arrests of more than 40 people, including dozens in Hudson County. Dwek became an informant in 2006 after being charged with a $50 million bank fraud and he wore a hidden camera to record meetings with targets of the probe.

Tabbachino and Suarez were charged in a single indictment, but the money laundering charges against Tabbachino were severed by District Court Judge Jose Linares.

Tabbachino faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 when sentenced by Linares on Aug. 24, and he has also agreed to forfeit about $40,000, officials said.