Councilman indicted on five charges

BLOOMFIELD, NJ — Bloomfield 1st Ward Councilman Elias Chalet, 53, was indicted by a state grand jury on Friday, Jan. 29, for five criminal charges stemming from a bribery allegation against him.

According to grand jury papers, Chalet was indicted for official misconduct, second degree; bribery in official and political matters, second degree; acceptance or receipt of unlawful benefit by a public servant for official behavior, second degree; tampering with or fabricating physical evidence, fourth degree; and hindering apprehension or prosecution, fourth degree.
The charges are the result of an investigation by the New Jersey State Police Official Corruption North Unit and the Division of Criminal Justice Corruption Bureau.

Chalet, a Realtor, was arrested Nov. 16 in his Broad Street business office by law enforcement officials, after he kept them knocking at the door and window for 45 minutes before letting them in, according to a statement from the Office of the Attorney General.

The statement alleges that Chalet had just accepted a $5,000 bribe from a township business owner, as part of a $15,000 bribe for Chalet to ensure that the township council would purchase a parcel of land the businessman owned. Chalet had already allegedly received $10,000 from the businessman. The meetings between Chalet and the businessman, according to the OAG, were recorded.

While locked in his office, relatives of Chalet arrived at the scene and called the councilman’s cell phone. They told law-enforcement officials he was in the bathroom.

When Chalet opened the door, the money could not be found. He was arrested and is free on $100,000 bail.
The charges against Chalet for tampering with physical evidence and hindering apprehension or prosecution were a result of his concealment or destruction of the $5,000, which could not be found, according to Pete Aseltine, OAG spokesperson.

“Chalet had the power to influence a decision by the township council that he knew would have a big financial impact on the businessman he allegedly solicited for a bribe, and we charge that he tried to parlay that into a big, crooked profit for himself,” said acting Attorney General John Hoffman. “This case represents local corruption at its worst.”

Director Elie Honig, of the Division of Criminal Justice, said when officials stop serving the public interest and instead serve themselves and those willing to pay their price, good government goes out the window.

“This type of corruption has an immediate cost to taxpayers,” Honig said, “but it also has a steep price in the long run because it erodes government integrity and public trust.”

Col. Rick Fuentes, superintendent of the New Jersey State Police, said people entrust their elected officials to look out for their best interests, not the interest of filling their own pockets with bribe money.

“This indictment serves notice that illegal conduct by New Jersey’s elected officials will not be tolerated,” Fuentes said.
Following his arrest, Chalet did not attend a council meeting until the reorganization meeting in early January. He has attended the three subsequent council meeting.

The land which the township was looking to purchase from the businessman is an abandoned gas station on East Passaic Avenue. The township planned to construct a water pump on the site. This would avoid the current township practice of receiving its water supply from Newark and paying the city a wheel charge.

Chalet is scheduled to appear in Newark Superior Court before Judge Martin Cronin on Friday, March 18, for his plea disposition.