George E. Norcross III, New Jersey’s once-powerful Democratic kingmaker, was charged on Monday with racketeering along with five other defendants, according to a person close to the New Jersey attorney general, Matthew J. Platkin.
The 13-count indictment unsealed by the attorney general accused the group of unlawfully obtaining property and property rights on the waterfront in Camden, N.J., collecting millions of dollars in government-issued tax credits, and controlling and influencing government officials.
Mr. Norcross’s brother, Philip A. Norcross, the chief executive of a law firm based in Camden, was also among those charged by the attorney general, whose office had been investigating Mr. Norcross’s access to government tax breaks.
The charges represent another blow to New Jersey’s already tarnished reputation for political corruption. The state’s senior senator, Robert Menendez, is his sixth week of trial, charged by federal prosecutors with accepting cash, gold bars and a Mercedes-Benz in exchange for his willingness to use his political clout to dole out favors for allies.
Mr. Norcross, an insurance executive who served on the Democratic National Committee, was for decades the most powerful unelected political official in New Jersey. He was instrumental in selecting governors, steering legislation and influencing state policy.
Mr. Norcross could not immediately be reached for comment.
About a year ago, Mr. Norcross suggested he was stepping back from politics after a series of embarrassing legislative defeats. His public statements coincided with news reports that the attorney general’s office had revived its investigation into more than a billion dollars in tax breaks awarded to South Jersey companies close to Mr. Norcross under legislation backed by former Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican.
During his first term, Gov. Philip D. Murphy, a Democrat, railed against that tax incentive program, and sparred openly with Mr. Norcross — tension that defined much of his first two years in office. Mr. Platkin was Mr. Murphy’s chief counsel when the state began investigating the program, the Economic Opportunity Act of 2013, and was later tapped as attorney general.
Crafted with help from a well-connected Democratic lawyer, the program gave out nearly $7 billion in tax breaks but provided few guardrails to protect the state against fraud.
Controversy over the program prompted legislative hearings and subpoenas to companies and at least one state agency, but charges were never filed.
The feud between Mr. Murphy and Mr. Norcross appeared to ease as the governor was running for re-election in 2021. Mr. Murphy signed off on his own $14 billion tax incentive package in late 2020, and he and Mr. Norcross began appearing together in public, a scenario that for years was unheard-of.
Last year, as Mr. Murphy’s wife, Tammy Murphy, was vying to run for U.S. Senate, the Camden County Democratic Committee, an influential group controlled by Mr. Norcross, was one of the first political organizations to back her. The endorsement came at a crucial time for Ms. Murphy, a first-time candidate, giving an air of inevitability to her faltering campaign.
Ms. Murphy dropped out of the race in March, days before a crucial building block of Mr. Norcross’s success — a tradition unique to New Jersey in which party leaders gave preferential treatment to their favored candidates on primary election ballots — was declared unconstitutional, first by Mr. Platkin and then by a federal judge.
As a result, Mr. Platkin’s relationship with Mr. Murphy, once one of his closest allies, has frayed.
In addition to Mr. Norcross and his brother, the others charged are:
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William M. Tambussi, 66, of Brigantine, N.J., the longtime personal lawyer for Mr. Norcross.
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Dana L. Redd, 56, of Sicklerville, N.J., the chief executive officer of Camden Community Partnership, and the former mayor of Camden.
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Sidney R. Brown, 67, of Philadelphia, the chief executive of NFI, a trucking and logistics company.
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John J. O’Donnell, 61, of Newtown, Pa., who has been in the executive leadership of the Michaels Organization, a residential development company
This is a breaking news story and will be updated.