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Abscam
Abscam (sometimes written ABSCAM) was an FBI sting operation in the late 1970s and early 1980s that led to the convictions of seven members of the United States Congress, among others, for bribery and corruption. The two-year investigation initially targeted trafficking in stolen property and corruption of prominent businessmen, but later evolved into a public corruption investigation. The FBI was aided by the Justice Department and convicted con-man Mel Weinberg in videotaping politicians accepting bribes from a fictitious Arabian company in return for various political favors.Salinger, Lawrence M. Encyclopedia of White-Collar & Corporate Crime. (Thousand Oaks, Calif: Sage Publications), 2005. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost), EBSCOhost (accessed February 19, 2014). More than 30 political figures were investigated, and six members of the House of Representatives and one senator were convicted.Jensen, Eric L., and Jurg Gerber. 2007. Encyclopedia of White-collar Crime. (Westport. Con ...
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Mel Weinberg
Melvin Weinberg (December 4, 1924 – May 30, 2018) was an American con artist, charlatan and federal government informant who is known for his involvement in a sting operation in the late 1970s and early 1980s known as Abscam. At the time of the scandal, he was a convict hired by the Federal Bureau of Investigation to conduct the operation in exchange for probation. The two-year investigation initially targeted trafficking in stolen property and corruption of prominent businessmen, but later evolved into a public corruption investigation. The FBI, aided by the Justice Department were able to videotape various politicians and other officials accepting bribes from a fictitious Arabian company in return for various political favors. This led to the convictions of seven members of the United States Congress, among others. His story was portrayed in the 2013 film '' American Hustle'', with Christian Bale playing Irving Rosenfeld, a character based on Weinberg. Weinberg was born in T ...
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Evelyn Knight
Evelyn Dawn Knight (born 5 November 1942) is an English woman known for her involvement in the Abscam sting operation of the 1970s, with her ex-husband Mel Weinberg. A character inspired by her was portrayed on film by Amy Adams in '' American Hustle'' (2013) for which Adams was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress. The story of Abscam was depicted as well in the 1981 book ''The Sting Man'' by Robert Greene. Personal life Knight was born in Watford, England, the daughter of Peggy ( née Wilson) and Bob Knight. Her father was a postman. Knight emigrated to the United States in 1967, when she was in her late twenties. At a party on Long Island sponsored by the British government, she met Mel Weinberg, a Jewish businessman 17 years her senior, and the two began a long love affair. Weinberg was married to his second wife, Marie, at the time. Marie died by suicide in 1982 at age 58. She had confronted Knight about the affair after she learned that Knight was living near ...
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Camden, New Jersey
Camden is a city in and the county seat of Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Camden is part of the Delaware Valley metropolitan area and is located directly across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At the 2020 U.S. census, the city had a population of 71,791.Camden city, Camden County, New Jersey
. Accessed April 26, 2022.
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Federal Bureau Of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, the FBI is also a member of the U.S. Intelligence Community and reports to both the Attorney General and the Director of National Intelligence. A leading U.S. counterterrorism, counterintelligence, and criminal investigative organization, the FBI has jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crimes. Although many of the FBI's functions are unique, its activities in support of national security are comparable to those of the British MI5 and NCA; the New Zealand GCSB and the Russian FSB. Unlike the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), which has no law enforcement authority and is focused on intelligence collection abroad, the FBI is primarily a domestic agency, maintaining 56 field offices in major cities throug ...
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Ritz-Carlton Atlantic City
The Ritz-Carlton Atlantic City, located at 199 S. Iowa Avenue in Atlantic City, New Jersey, began as a hotel on the Boardwalk in Atlantic City, built at the beginning of the Roaring Twenties and renowned for its luxurious decor and famous guests. It was used as an apartment hotel beginning in 1969, and then purchased in 1978 with the intention of developing it as a hotel and casino. The building was converted to The Ritz Condominiums in 1982. History Construction and design The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company announced its intention to build a hotel in Atlantic City in 1911. The Ritz-Carlton was designed by New York architect Charles D. Wetmore and constructed by the Thompson-Starrett Company. Opened on June 21, 1921, it was erected at a cost of $6.25 million (almost $70 million in 2010 dollars), less than the original $8 million projected. Located at the end of Iowa Avenue, the building has 131 feet of Boardwalk frontage, is tall, and has 18 stories. At the building's dedication, ho ...
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Hauppauge, New York
Hauppauge ( ) is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Administrative divisions of New York#Town, towns of Islip, New York, Islip and Smithtown, New York, Smithtown in Suffolk County, New York on Long Island. The population was 20,882 at the time of the 2010 census. Geography Hauppauge is located at (40.818205, -73.206878). According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of , of which is land and , or 1.37%, is water. The name is derived from the Native American word for "sweet waters." Local Native American tribes would get their fresh drinking water from this area, instead of near Lake Ronkonkoma (lake), Lake Ronkonkoma where the water was not potable. Hauppauge is known for the underground water springs and high underground water table. History The first house in greater Hauppauge, according to historian Simeon Wood, dates as far back as 1731, being located on what would be the Arbuckle Estate, and later the southeast corn ...
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Dunes Hotel And Casino (Atlantic City)
The Dunes Hotel and Casino (Atlantic City) was a proposed hotel and casino that was to be built in Atlantic City, New Jersey in the late 1970s. It was initially proposed to consist of 504 hotel rooms and a 34,500 square foot casino located at Albany Avenue on the Boardwalk. It was to be the southernmost hotel/casino on the Boardwalk, adjacent to the Golden Nugget Hotel & Casino. Due to financial and legal difficulties, the hotel was never completed and a casino license was never issued. History Development initially consisted of the purchase of the President Motor Inn and Mayfair Apartments at the site. Construction began in 1979 with the demolition of the President Motor Inn and the project was involved in the Abscam investigation. The project was halted in 1980 due to lack of financing, at which time it consisted of a two-story skeleton structure. The project was owned by Continental Connector Corp. (which later changed its name to Dunes Hotel Casinos, Inc.), which also o ...
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Bribes
Bribery is the offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official, or other person, in charge of a public or legal duty. With regard to governmental operations, essentially, bribery is "Corrupt solicitation, acceptance, or transfer of value in exchange for official action." Gifts of money or other items of value which are otherwise available to everyone on an equivalent basis, and not for dishonest purposes, is not bribery. Offering a discount or a refund to all purchasers is a legal rebate and is not bribery. For example, it is legal for an employee of a Public Utilities Commission involved in electric rate regulation to accept a rebate on electric service that reduces their cost for electricity, when the rebate is available to other residential electric customers. However, giving a discount specifically to that employee to influence them to look favorably on the electric utility's rate increase applications would be conside ...
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Long Island
Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United States and the List of islands by population, 18th-most populous in the world. The island begins at New York Harbor approximately east of Manhattan Island and extends eastward about into the Atlantic Ocean and 23 miles wide at its most distant points. The island comprises four List of counties in New York, counties: Kings and Queens counties (the New York City Borough (New York City), boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens, respectively) and Nassau County, New York, Nassau County share the western third of the island, while Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk County occupies the eastern two thirds of the island. More than half of New York City's residents (58.4%) lived on Long Island as of 2020, in Brooklyn and in Queens. Culturally, many people in t ...
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United States Congress
The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. Senators and representatives are chosen through direct election, though vacancies in the Senate may be filled by a governor's appointment. Congress has 535 voting members: 100 senators and 435 representatives. The U.S. vice president has a vote in the Senate only when senators are evenly divided. The House of Representatives has six non-voting members. The sitting of a Congress is for a two-year term, at present, beginning every other January. Elections are held every even-numbered year on Election Day. The members of the House of Representatives are elected for the two-year term of a Congress. The Reapportionment Act of 1929 establishes that there be 435 representatives and the Uniform Congressional Redistricting Act requires ...
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Susan Tolchin
Susan Jane Tolchin (January 14, 1941 – May 18, 2016) was an American political scientist. Life Susan Jane Goldsmith was born in Manhattan to Jacob Goldsmith, a lawyer, and his wife Dorothy (née Markowitz), a teacher. She graduated from Bryn Mawr College, the University of Chicago and New York University. She taught at Mount Vernon College, at The George Washington University during the early 1990s, and George Mason University. She married journalist Martin Tolchin, a founder of Politico ''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American, German-owned political journalism newspaper company based in Arlington County, Virginia, that covers politics and policy in the United States and intern ..., in 1965, coauthored many books on American politics and remained married until her death. They had two children; Charles (d. 2003) and Karen. She died of ovarian cancer at her home in Washington on May 18, 2016, at the age of 75. Works ...
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Atlantic City, New Jersey
Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020, the city had a population of 38,497.QuickFacts Atlantic City city, New Jersey
. Accessed November 9, 2022.
It was incorporated on May 1, 1854, from portions of and
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