SECAUCUS AND BEYOND — During the second day of the bribery trial of former Secuacus Mayor Elwell, defense attorney Jeffrey Garrigan pushed to reveal discrepancies in the testimony of Ronald Manzo, who took the stand on Monday as the first witness.
Garrigan focused on discrepancies in Manzo’s testimony about his relationship with Solomon Dwek, FBI informant, and his motives for cooperating with the government, according to an article in The Record.
Ronald Manzo, a business man from Bayonne, was a close associate of Elwell and pleaded guilty last month to receiving money to facilitate a payment to Elwell from Dwek, who pretended to be a real estate developer interested in developing a hotel in Secaucus.
According to the article, Manzo had violated probation for a previous crime of perjury and insider trading when he was arrested for accepting $27,500 in corrupt cash payments from Solomon Dwek allegedly in exchange for his brother, Louis Manzo’s, possible official assistance on development matters. Louis Manzo was a former assemblyman and mayoral candidate, but Louis has not pleaded guilty.
The defense pointed to a cooperation agreement with the government, saying Manzo has been promised not to be called as a witness at his brother’s trial. Thus, Manzo might have incentive to cooperate with the government against Elwell regarding Elwell’s own charges.
Manzo stated in his testimony that he kept the $27,500 that was meant for his brother and also said he was promised up to $100,000 from Dwek if certain Jersey City deals had gone through, according to the Record.
The defense made the argument that Ronald Manzo sought to profit further in introducing Elwell to Dwek, which is consistent with prior testimony made last month at the time that he pleaded guilty to extortion. Manzo told the prosecution he arranged a meeting between Dwek and Elwell to help Dwek with his real estate deal.