Federal Criminal Charges Filed vs. Former Atlantic City Councilma

Maria Lacca has filed a federal criminal complaint against former Atlantic City, New Jersey Councilman Muhammad "Anjum" Zia for illegally interfering in the Fifth Ward special election.

Lacca has already defeated Zia once, when she charged that he didn’t live in Atlantic City. She made her case before New Jersey Superior Court Judge Michael Blee.

Judge Blee agreed and he removed Zia from his elective office.

Blee errored when he scheduled the special election for November 5, 2024. New Jersey law required that a special election for the 5th Ward seat be held during the month of October, 2024.

The election taking place on General Election Day is a very big deal, as Democrats outnumber Republicans 9-1 in Atlantic Coty.

Lacca lost a very close election to Zia. She is the favorite to win the special election.

Atlantic City Council recently appointed Marty Small-backed candidate Mohammed Haq to the 5th Ward seat until the matter is settled on November 5, 2024.

Lacca filed her complaint against Zia with the Federal Bureau of Investigations, the United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey, and other state and local law enforcement authorities.

The complaint was accompanied by evidence in the form of affidavits, recordings, and transcripts from voters who were deceived by Zia's dishonest election interference. In August, Superior Court Judge Michael Blee ruled Zia "not credible" and disqualified him from being a candidate in the Fifth Ward special election this year on account that he lied about living in Atlantic City, said Lacca.

The evidence Lacca has submitted includes:

Testimony from a voter that Zia approached the voter, stated he was the Democratic nominee for City Council, instructed the voter to hurriedly sign their vote-by-mail ballot, and then took the blank ballot from the voter before departing. The voter was then unable to vote their conscience in any of the races and has explicitly requested that their vote-by-mail ballot be rescinded. Zia's malfeasance includes violations of federal law constituting voter intimidation, misdemeanor impersonation of a candidate, fraudulent procurement of ballots, disobedience of a court order, and other criminal acts. These charges could bring at least five years of imprisonment, Lacca alleges.

"EHT Zia is back doing what he does best: Lying to voters. Not on my watch," said Lacca said. "I'm proud to have held this fraudulent former councilman accountable for his lies to the people of the Fifth Ward. But he hasn't learned his lesson, so we're going to have to do it again.” said Lacca.