Frankie “The Fish” Barbera and By VIRGINIA McCABE In March of 2005, I received a call from an official source who said that Atlantic City Real Estate Broker and then Atlantic County Republic Party Treasurer Frank “Frankie The Fish,” Barbera had been caught up in a federal corruption probe in Atlantic City. Barbera earned the moniker “The Fish,” because his family owned a fish market in Atlantic City. Barbera declined to comment for this story and referred all questions to his attorney Carl Poplar. However, Barbera did promise this reporter an exclusive interview during a phone conversation in 2005. Barbera had been the Real Estate Broker on the “Glenn Property,” a county Open Space project in Galloway Township that cost approximately $1 million. I thought the deal may have come under suspicion because Barbera was a political operative and closely associated with former Senator William Gormley. Democratic operatives who passed a resolution to obtain the Glenn Property affectionately dubbed Barbera, “Gormley’s Bag Man.” Democratic leaders theorized that the Open Space expenditures were a way for Republic Real Estate Brokers to obtain fees through the sale of real estate and funnel it back to the Republican Party in time to cover heavy costs in an election year. I placed a call to a high-ranking Republican politician and asked about Barbera and discussed what my source had told me. The politician said it was impossible that Barbera would be involved with anything crooked. I was not convinced and worked to get another inside source on the story. About two minutes after I ended my conversation with the politician, I received a call from “The Fish.” I was surprised how fast “The Fish,” reached out to me. I told him that his name surfaced in regard to a federal corruption probe in association with Craig Callaway. Barbera was polite, flat out denied the charge and told me in a laughing manner that if he was indicted, he would give me the exclusive interview. In 2005, I could not immediately get a second inside confirmation on the story so I wrote a political column titled “A Spectacular Week,” and recounted the story without Barbera’s name. My reporter’s antenna were still up and I started working on getting more information. My second confirmation came not too long after the first. An official connected to the Office of the U.S. Attorney confirmed that Barbera was working with the FBI regarding “bribes and consultant work.” I asked my source if Barbera was in trouble with the Glenn Property transaction. The answer was, “no.” I also asked my source if Atlantic County Executive Dennis Levinson was in jeopardy because he was the architect of the Open Space Acquisition Plan in the county. My source was more firm than before. “No, you’re barking up the wrong tree, Mr. Levinson is squeaky clean.” I was told by two other official sources that Barbera was caught up in a “business as usual in Atlantic City,” scheme and that he was both a victim and a participant. “He was a victim too,” said my source. “If you don’t play ball, you don’t get work in Atlantic City and you don’t feed your family.” After I broke the story about ‘Operation Steal Pier,” in 2006, a high ranking Republican politician contacted me to talk about the story. “You have written this with such authority,” said the source.
“How did you The politician already knew that my information was accurate, he was trying to mine more information and determine who my sources were in the story. Naturally I would not give up any source, I simply repeated what I had already published. The caller was shocked to hear that my sources were connected to the Office of the U.S. Attorney and federal investigators. I then turned the conversation to “The Fish,” because they had a friendship and working relationship that went back decades. “I refuse to talk about The Fish at all,” said the Caller. “I have nothing to say about The Fish.” “I don’t blame you,” I told the caller. “If I were you, I wouldn’t be talking about the fish either.” I was about to break the story about “The Fish” around mid
2006. I called Barbera to tell him I was running a story the next day
detailing his involvement in “Operation Steal Pier,” and I
was seeking his comment. Barbera sounded tense and again he declined to
talk about the case. I hung up the phone and leaned back in my chair.
An instant later, I “So you are confirming that “The Fish,” is working with federal authorities and that he is taking a plea agreement and going to federal prison?” “Yes,” said my source. “Barbera is going to take a plea and he’s going to take his three years.” Since that time some officials connected to the case have become concerned that powerful people have intervened on behalf of “The Fish and others,” and that they will be let “off the alleged hook in the case.” There is bad blood between the Office of the U.S. Attorney in New Jersey and the FBI, according to sources from both agencies. One source with the U.S. Attorney’s Office said reporters should beware of FBI sources. “There are some bad FBI Agents out there,” said the source. One senior FBI official said that the U.S. Attorney was more interested in his public image than catching criminals and that the FBI did all the hard work and Christie got all the glory. “He is a media hound,” said the FBI Official. “He’s in love with himself.” Federal officials in agencies connected with the case have expressed dismay at some of the “retaliation tactics” allegedly coming from the office of the U.S. Attorney in New Jersey --- in light of alleged leaks to media about the case. Christopher Christie could not be reached for this report. “If Chris Christie, his agents or assignees are going to retaliate against FBI Agents, reporters, their families or anybody else under the cloak of an official investigation, it could end his (Christie) career. The reporters would jump all over that story,” said an official with knowledge of the criminal case. FBI Agents were hauled up to Newark last week and grilled about leaks in the case. Likewise, one official in the Officeo f the U.S. Attorney in New Jersey said people are angry at alleged leaks, reportedly coming from the FBI. "These leaks have got to stop, it's unprofessional. There are some bad FBI agents out there."
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