George E. Norcross III, the towering figure who has led South Jersey’s Democratic political machine for nearly a quarter century, was charged Monday in a sweeping racketeering case alleging that he and key allies used their influence to corruptly acquire tax credits and real estate worth millions while muscling rivals out of the lucrative redevelopment of Camden’s waterfront.
Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin unveiled the 13-count indictment — which also named Norcross’ brother and Camden-based attorney Philip, their longtime lawyer William Tambussi, and former Camden Mayor Dana Redd as defendants — at a news conference in Trenton.
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He accused the group — which he repeatedly referred to as the “Norcross Enterprise” — of hijacking a 2013 state program meant to encourage development in poorer communities to line their own pockets instead. They maintained that control, Platkin said, through coercion, extortion and threats.
“On full display in this indictment is how a group of unelected, private businessmen used their power and influence to get government to aid their criminal enterprise and further [their] interests,” Platkin said, adding that their conduct allowed them to essentially take “the Camden waterfront all for themselves.”
Remarkably, as the attorney general detailed the 111-page indictment in front of an audience of reporters Monday, Norcross, 68, sat quietly in the front row.
He was anything but quiet afterward as he balked at the charges, called Platkin a “politician masquerading as an attorney general” and accused him of carrying out a years-long political vendetta against him.
The entire scene played out just blocks from the New Jersey State House, where Norcross over the years had become accustomed to being treated as a distinguished guest by governors and lawmakers alike.
“I want to go to trial in two weeks. I want Matt Platkin to come down here and try this case himself,” Norcross told reporters outside the Hughes Justice Complex after the attorney general announced charges. “Because he’s a coward, because he has forced people in this building to implement his will.”
That Norcross — a Camden County native, insurance executive, philanthropist and chair of Cooper University Health System, a major hospital network — had found himself on the wrong end of a criminal indictment signaled a seismic shift in the political forces that have governed New Jersey for years.
Despite never having held elected office, Norcross built the South Jersey Democratic machine into a juggernaut over the last two decades that has propelled key allies into all levels of politics and government from city councils and local party committees to government agencies and the state legislature. His backing helped to elect his brother Donald Norcross to Congress in 2013 and to install former state Senate President Stephen Sweeney, George Norcross’ childhood friend, in his leadership role in 2009.
And while state and federal authorities have repeatedly scrutinized his business dealings over the last two decades — tapping his phones and sending informants to record his conversations — none of those earlier investigations ever resulted in charges.
Seismic impact
Monday’s indictment came after a years-long investigation and just days after Platkin’s office announced separate charges against two Norcross allies on the board of the South Jersey Transportation Authority who are accused of abusing their positions to exact revenge against one of his political rivals. Though he is referenced in charging documents in that case as a “South Jersey Democratic Party Leader,” that indictment did not identify Norcross by name, accuse him of any wrongdoing, or charge him with a crime.
The case unveiled Monday means he now faces the threat of substantial prison time, if he is convicted, and a messy court battle that could tarnish both his legacy and the narrative he has helped build over years of his role as white knight bringing back Camden from decades of poverty and financial disinvestment.
It’s also all but certain to further roil New Jersey political circles, which have been buffeted in recent months by another blockbuster indictment, that of Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, and a court decision earlier this year that forced a redesign of the state’s ballots, after a federal court found it unfairly cemented the influence of party bosses like Norcross.
“It’s often said that in New Jersey politics is a blood sport, and what’s meant by that is that if you don’t go along with the demands of those in political power, you’ll get hurt,” Platkin said at his news conference. “But there’s nothing inherent in our state’s culture that requires us to accept politics and government that functions this way. And as we so clearly [say] in this indictment, there’s nothing legal about it either.”
Waterfront real estate
Specifically, the indictment focused on Norcross’ role in a handful of real estate deals on the Camden waterfront during a development boom set off by the state’s implementation of a 2013 tax credit program.
» READ MORE: N.J. AG corruption investigation focuses on George Norcross’ influence over Camden waterfront developments, sources say
Prosecutors say that Norcross and his brother Philip helped shape the legislation behind the tax incentives from the start. At a meeting in 2012 or early 2013 in which they discussed how they would use the tax credit program to their benefit, George Norcross told a group the program was “for our friends” and stated he hoped to use the program to build an office tower in downtown Camden for free, according to the indictment.
Shortly after the law passed, Philip Norcross spoke to several allies in a meeting that was recorded and detailed in Monday’s indictment. “I try to practice as little law as possible. Just for laughs and giggles, I run a law firm,” he joked. “And for more laughs and giggles, my sibling and I get around … the table and decide what George’s agenda is in Camden.”
And as prosecutors described it, they quickly got to work extorting and coercing others to acquire land and property rights on or near the waterfront.
When George Norcross learned that a nonprofit redevelopment organization then known as Cooper’s Ferry Partnership was seeking to buy two office buildings in Camden known as the L3 complex, his associates forced the nonprofit to partner with Norcross’ preferred developer and ultimately sell its rights to the property, according to the indictment.
Prosecutors said that at the direction of Norcross’ criminal enterprise, Camden Mayor Dana L. Redd’s office instructed the nonprofit in 2013 to meet regularly with Philip Norcross, who ultimately told Cooper’s Ferry not to use its chosen developer.
Philip Norcross “implied” that if the nonprofit didn’t use the Norcross enterprise’s preferred developer — investor Ira Lubert and commercial landlord Howard Needleman — it would “suffer repercussions,” the indictment says.
After being told his job was in jeopardy, the nonprofit’s CEO — Anthony Perno — reluctantly agreed to partner with Lubert and Needleman in Cooper’s Ferry’s purchase of the property from the state Economic Development Authority, prosecutors say.
In December 2014 the nonprofit received $125,000 for its rights, far less than the millions it had expected to earn from the transaction and in future profit-sharing. Lubert and Needleman, meantime, were able to buy the property at a steep discount — for $20 million less than its appraised value — as a result of a deal Cooper’s Ferry had locked in with the state EDA before the passage of the tax incentive legislation, prosecutors say.
With Cooper’s Ferry out of the picture, Cooper Health — whose board chairman was George Norcross — gained an ownership stake in the L3 complex. The hospital later obtained more than $27 million in tax credits from the state and moved into its own building as a tenant.
A few years later, the indictment says, Norcross and his allies used threats of economic and reputational harm to force Perno to resign as chief executive of Cooper’s Ferry. That helped outgoing Camden Mayor Dana Redd land a new job, the indictment says.
Threats and extortion
That alleged extortion scheme was just the beginning, prosecutors said. Norcross and his allies quickly turned their attention to other waterfront developments — a planned office tower known as Triad1828, which is now headquarters to Norcross’ insurance brokerage and its business partners trucking and logistics company NFI and The Michaels Organization, a residential real estate firm. Two top executives for those businesses — Sidney R. Brown, chief executive of NFI, and John J. O’Donnell, of Michaels — were also indicted Monday.
But despite Norcross’ plans to erect the Triad office tower, Philadelphia developer Carl Dranoff controlled property rights that affected his ability to proceed.
When Dranoff balked at Norcross’ terms for buying property rights, Norcross in the summer of 2016 told him he would “f— you up like you’ve never been f— ed up before,” adding he would make sure the developer never did business in Camden again, the indictment says. In a recorded call, Norcross admitted to threatening Dranoff, according to prosecutors.
As a result of these and other actions, the indictment says, Dranoff in 2016 sold the rights to $18 million worth of tax credits to “an entity owned by Norcross Enterprise members and associates.” The developer also sold and extinguished other rights — for a price below where he valued the property — allowing Norcross’ insurance brokerage and other entities to apply for more tax credits. They were approved for more than $240 million in tax credits and started receiving and selling them in 2022, according to prosecutors.
Then, starting in 2018, Norcross allegedly leaned on his allies in Camden City government to block Dranoff’s attempted sale of a luxury apartment complex known as The Victor Building. The city also moved to terminate Dranoff’s rights to develop another site. That prompted years of litigation, which concluded last fall in a settlement under which Dranoff agreed to pay the city $3 million plus additional tax payments of $300,000.
Norcross’ history with Platkin
Despite the seriousness of the allegations lodged against his client, Norcross’ attorney Michael Critchley predicted Monday that Norcross would ultimately be acquitted at trial.
After all, members of Norcross’ camp noted throughout the day, this wasn’t the first time many of the real estate deals at issue had received public scrutiny, and it wasn’t Norcross’ first run-in with Platkin.
In 2019, a task force Platkin helped to create under Gov. Phil Murphy found companies with ties to political insiders, including Norcross, may have made false representations to win tax credits from the state Economic Development Authority.
The task force questioned the propriety of several credits awarded to companies including Norcross’ insurance brokerage Conner Strong & Buckelew and Cooper Health System.
Norcross unsuccessfully sued Murphy over the inquiry, denying any wrongdoing and dismissing the task force’s work as a political hit job, Conner Strong and its business partners received their first installment of tax breaks in 2022, which are distributed over 10 years and can be used to offset tax liabilities or sold for cash.
Norcross’ allies pointed out that despite all the headlines generated by the task force, its efforts to rescind millions of dollars in tax credits have been shot down in court.
Kevin Marino, attorney for Philip Norcross, predicted that with Monday’s indictment Platkin — now in a new role as attorney general — would once again come up short.
“Mr. Platkin,” he said, “is going to find out in this case, what it really means to have those who really are in power to be held to account.”
Read the indictment here:
This is a developing story and will be updated.
