Menashe Davidovitz, 31, pleaded guilty to federal charges involving $13,000 in permit bribes and unauthorized Homeland Security identification cards obtained through a former U.S. Air Marshal.
A landlord who owns residential buildings across Newark admitted in federal court on September 1 to two criminal schemes: paying city employees to clear violations and fast-track permits for his properties, and selling unauthorized Department of Homeland Security identification cards that a former U.S. Air Marshal had purchased from a Nutley company. The guilty plea covered operations that ran at different times — the ID card scheme from 2021 to 2023, and the bribery scheme in 2024.
U.S. District Judge Georgette Castner took the plea that afternoon from Menashe Davidovitz, 31, who lives in Airmont, New York. The four-count Information to which he pleaded guilty alleged conspiracy to commit honest-services fraud, conspiracy to commit bribery involving a federally funded local government, conspiracy to sell false seals and conspiracy to sell official insignia, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey.
Davidovitz waived his right to a grand jury, allowing prosecutors to file a criminal Information rather than seek an indictment, records show. The underlying complaint landed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey on June 16, 2026.
Davidovitz needed something Newark property owners cannot legally do without: certificates of occupancy. The city withholds those documents while violations remain open. No one can sell or occupy a building without one. In Newark's tight rental market, every month of stalled paperwork bleeds money. A vacant building generates no rent but still carries mortgage payments, property taxes and maintenance costs. Davidovitz owned multiple residential buildings in the city. He needed the certificates fast.
He enlisted a former Newark code enforcement officer to serve as his intermediary, the criminal complaint alleges. The filing says that former officer then contacted current city employees, including one worker whose duties included signing certificates of occupancy, to clear violations and push applications through.
The filing says the former officer routed roughly $13,000 in payments to city employees on Davidovitz's behalf.
Between August 28 and September 27, 2024, Davidovitz sent five Apple Pay transfers totaling $2,150 to the former officer and an associate, according to the complaint. Individual transfers ran from $300 to $500. The former officer also allegedly told Davidovitz to route money through Zelle or other platforms to at least two other people.
One property on Johnson Street figured prominently in the exchanges, according to the complaint. In July 2024, the former officer texted Davidovitz screenshots showing cleared violations and finished inspections. He then asked where to bill the remaining balance. Davidovitz told the intermediary his office would handle the payment. He later admitted in a recorded conversation that he had paid $5,000 for an expedited certificate of occupancy at that address.
The tenants who moved into the Johnson Street building had no way of knowing their certificate was purchased, not earned. They signed leases believing city inspectors had verified working fire escapes, proper electrical wiring and adequate heat. No one told them otherwise.
Commercial real estate records show Davidovitz has been active in the Newark market for several years. A March 2025 financing record from Traded lists him as landlord on a 21-unit multifamily property at 153 Pierson Street and 148 Palm Street in Orange and Newark. Castling Capital provided a $2,640,003 construction loan for that transaction.
The bribery scheme was not his first. A separate operation had run from October 2021 through January 2023. It involved identification cards.
Jonathan Ledesma, a former U.S. Air Marshal, bought more than 200 identification cards from a Nutley company for about $19.21 apiece, the complaint states. The cards identified holders as "family members" of a federal law enforcement officer. They carried agency names and Department of Homeland Security insignia. Each card included a QR code linking to Ledesma's cellphone number. The cards carried no federal authorization. Buyers who displayed them claimed a family connection to law enforcement they did not have.
Ledesma had carried a federal badge before his criminal case began. The cards he supplied carried a QR code linking to his personal cellphone. Buyers who scanned the code reached a man who had actually worked in federal law enforcement. The complaint does not say how many buyers called that number or what Ledesma told them.
The cards created the appearance of a familial relationship to federal law enforcement. The complaint does not specify how buyers used them.
Davidovitz, Ledesma, an unnamed Newark police officer and others sold the cards at a markup, according to the filing. They accepted payments through mobile applications and divided the proceeds. The complaint does not explain how a sworn Newark officer became a co-conspirator in selling fraudulent federal credentials. It also does not say whether that officer remains on duty.
In one exchange reproduced in the complaint, Davidovitz quoted a prospective buyer $1,500 for a card. He gave his home address for pickup of a card meant for the buyer's wife. Davidovitz collected roughly $30,000 from the card sales overall.
The U.S. Attorney's Office said Davidovitz had no legal right to sell DHS insignia or copies of it.
The complaint names Davidovitz and Ledesma but does not identify the former code enforcement officer who served as intermediary, the city employee whose role included issuing certificates of occupancy, or the Newark police officer who allegedly participated in the scheme. The documents do not indicate whether any of those individuals have been charged.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation's Newark Field Office and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of Inspector General conducted the investigation. Special Agent in Charge Stefanie Roddy leads the FBI Newark office. Special Agent in Charge Shawn A. Rice leads HUD OIG's regional operation.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Francesca Liquori of the Special Prosecutions Division is handling the prosecution. Jerome A. Ballarotto of Trenton represents Davidovitz. Court records show John W. Mitchell of Bedford, New York, served as co-counsel at the complaint stage.
Ledesma's own guilty plea came first. Judge Castner sentenced him to three years of probation on December 13, 2024, five months after he admitted to making false statements and selling official insignia without authorization.
Davidovitz will face sentencing on January 21, 2027. The honest-services fraud conspiracy count carries a maximum of 20 years in prison. The bribery and false-seal conspiracy counts each carry up to five years. The official-insignia count carries a maximum of six months. Judge Castner will set the sentence based on federal guidelines and any cooperation Davidovitz provides.
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Sources
• Morristown Minute, "Developer Pleads Guilty in $13,000 Newark Permit-Bribery Scheme" (September 4, 2026)
• New Jersey Globe, "Developer admits bribing Newark officials, selling cards bearing DHS insignia" (September 1, 2026)
• News12 New Jersey, "New York developer admits bribing Newark employees and selling fake DHS IDs" (September 2, 2026)
• Patch Newark, "Real Estate Developer Guilty Of Bribery Scheme In Newark" (September 2, 2026)
• Traded, "Menashe Davidovitz Secures $2,640,003 Construction Loan for Multifamily Property" (March 2025)
• U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey, "Newark Real Estate Developer Admits to Participating in Bribery Scheme and to the Unauthorized Sale of I.D. Cards with Department of Homeland Security Insignia," Press Release (September 1, 2026)
• U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey, "Newark Real Estate Developer Charged in Bribery Scheme and with Selling Identification Cards with Department of Homeland Security Insignia," Press Release (June 18, 2026)
• USA v. Davidovitz, U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, Docket No. 2:26-mj-12086, Criminal Complaint (June 16, 2026)