N.J. Corruption Scheme Involving Pay-to-Play Contracts Leads to Charges Against Law Firm Partner
“The law partner of the tax attorney believed to be a cooperating witness in a sweeping New Jersey pay-to-play corruption investigation has been charged with lying about thousands in political contributions made to secure lucrative municipal contracts,” reports Ted Sherman in NJ.com’s Politics.
“Elizabeth Valandingham, 47, was accused by the state Attorney General’s office of falsely claiming that her firm had not made any reportable contributions to candidates in two towns where the firm had been vying to provide legal services — when in fact it had.”
“Valandingham was a partner of Matthew O’Donnell, the Morristown tax attorney who reportedly served as an undercover informant in the wide-ranging state sting that led to charges in December against five people, including elected and former officials and political candidates. They were accused of taking tens of thousands in bribes disguised as campaign contributions in return for steering legal work to a law firm that multiple sources have said was O’Donnell McCord.”
