Former Hoboken Council President Chris Campos had his law license was reinstated early this summer after a three-year suspension, which came after he was sentenced to 30 months in prison for his role in a $7 million car loan scheme.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
“This matter having been duly presented, it is ordered that Christopher Campos formerly of Hoboken who was admitted to the bar of this State in 2003, and who was suspended from the practice of law for a period of three years effective May 12, 2020, by Order of this Court filed May 12, 2020, be restored to the practice of law, effective immediately,” a June 13th filing from the New Jersey Supreme Court says.
At a federal trial in June 2017, Campos was found guilty of bank and wire fraud and conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud after charges were brought by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York.
Campos and his co-conspirators fraudulently obtained millions of dollars in car loans by using at least 20 straw buyers to acquire more than 200 new automobiles based on false representations, federal prosecutors said.
For example, the straw buyers would use the cars for their personal use when, in reality, Campos and his co-conspirators obtained the vehicles in order to lease as livery cabs.
“As a unanimous jury found, Christopher Campos, an attorney and former Hoboken City Council President, defrauded lenders out of millions of dollars,” then Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District Joohn H. Kim said at the time.
In addition to his prison sentence, Campos was also ordered to pay restitution of over $3 million.
To add insult to injury, the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (NJ ELEC) hit Campos with a $22,231 fine for reporting expenditures and contributions at least eight years late in connection to his unsuccessful 2007 re-election campaign, as HCV first reported.
In the decision, which came on January 15h, 2019 while Campos was still in prison, the state agency determined he failed to report a number of things in a timely fashion.
This included, but is not limited to, 443 expenditures coming out to $62,961, 56 contributions totaling $73,000, and failing to file seven contributions worth $12,650 that fell in the 48-hour filing window.
After serving his time, Campos applied to have his license reinstated, which the state’s highest court granted.
Good Riddance to that slimeball trashbag
Ahh the good old days of Hoboken when now convicted felons Cammarano and Campos thought they were in charge and invincable.
It doesn’t really feel like much has changed with the way Ravi is giving favors to political allies (Fulop’s wife getting a cannabis license!, trying to push through huge projects like the high school, hiring for jobs that the city doesn’t need, working to squash any independent voices on the city council). Our city officials should be beyond reproach not already censured for bad behavior.