Atlantic City records subpoenaed

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) - April 21, 2008 Mayor Scott Evans confirmed Monday that the state Attorney General's Office delivered four subpoenas to City Hall on Friday seeking municipal records from 2000 to 2007.

He would not say what specifically was sought.

"I can't comment on it too much because of the ongoing criminal investigation," he said. "But I have not been served with any subpoena, I can tell you that."

Evans said his administration will comply fully with the subpoenas, at least one of which seeks information from as far back as 1995, he said.

"We are getting all the information they requested together and we'll get it all to them," he said. "We are cooperating fully."

Peter Aseltine, a spokesman for the Attorney General's Office, said his office's policy is not to confirm or deny the existence of any investigation.

Several city officials said the probe involves how Atlantic City spent Community Development Block Grant funds, money that is parceled out for local development projects.

A string of corruption investigations in Atlantic City has resulted in numerous convictions and resignations of municipal officials in recent years.

Former City Council President Craig Callaway is serving a 40-month federal prison following a bribery conviction. He was in state Superior Court Monday morning for a hearing in an unrelated case in which he, two of his brothers, a close friend, and an incumbent City Councilman, John Schultz, are charged with luring another councilman to a motel and secretly videotaping him having sex with a prostitute.

The tape was then sent to media outlets in an attempt to embarrass Councilman Eugene Robinson into resigning. But he refused and contacted authorities.

In yet another bizarre twist, a party that several Atlantic City officials had to celebrate the arrests of Callaway and the others ended with another councilman, Timothy Mancuso, arrested for suspicion of driving while intoxicated after he drove his car over the Boardwalk and onto the beach on his way home.

Two other former councilmen were convicted along with Callaway on bribery charges.

In June, former Mayor Bob Levy is to be sentenced in federal court for lying about the extent of his Vietnam War service in order to fatten his veteran's benefits check.

Several other former mayors also were arrested on corruption charges in recent decades.

"It's far from over in Atlantic City," said Councilman George Tibbitt. "It's obvious that the investigations from the past aren't over yet, and we're getting the black eye for it."

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