NJ official admits crimes against public, including voter fraud

ATLANTIC CITY — A local councilman has admitted to submitting phony voter registrations, ahead of a primary election in his district.

MD Hossain Morshed, former Democratic councilman of Atlantic City’s Fourth Ward, pleaded guilty Wednesday in Camden federal court to fraudulent procurement and submission of voter registration application, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said.

After filling out a voter application for a Galloway resident, with a phony Atlantic City address, the 50-year-old Morshed had the person sign it.

He then promised the same person a job in city government, if he won election, before getting them to sign a vote-by-mail application.

The voter later told authorities that they had never actually filled out a mail-in ballot —even though one was submitted in the voter’s name and counted in the June 2019 primary.

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During lawfully recorded conversations, Morshed directed the same person, if questioned by law enforcement, to lie about living at an empty house, which Morshed said was his relative’s property.

As set forth in a plea agreement, Morshed also has agreed to pay back $39,208 in state unemployment benefits he collected despite being ineligible, according to Sellinger’s office.

That fraud happened between April 2020 and September 2021, Sellinger previously said, when Morshed applied for extended benefits through the state Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program.

Sentencing has been set for July 16.

Morshed was elected in November 2019 to serve a four-year term on the city council.

He stopped serving that term after Dec. 31, 2023, according to the Atlantic City Clerk's Office.

Last month in a separate federal case, former Atlantic City Council president Craig Callaway was charged with one count of voter fraud.