Philadelphia Official Tied to Extortion Bid
A city councilman was arrested Friday and charged with attempting to extort $1 million from the developer of the multimillion-dollar Penn’s Landing project, officials said.
An affidavit filed in U.S. District Court said Leland Beloff and two others tried to extort $1 million from Rouse & Associates. In return, Beloff was to file and help pass a city measure to get $10 million in federal project funds, the affidavit said.
Also arrested were Beloff’s administrative assistant, Robert Rego, and Nicholas Caramandi, who was listed in a 1980 Pennsylvania Crime Commission report as having connections with organized crime.
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