AP

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. - Three real estate developers, one of them from Rockland County, have been charged in a voter fraud scheme involving a village in upstate New York.

In a federal indictment unsealed Thursday, developers Kenneth Nakdimen of Monsey, along with Shalom Lamm and Volvy Smilowitz, were charged with conspiracy to corrupt the electoral process in the village of Bloomingburg.

Prosecutors say the men tried to get the local government to favor a townhouse project designed to accommodate Hasidic families. They say they bribed people to unlawfully register and vote.

Under the scheme, prosecutors say the men backdated leases and opened bank accounts. They even placed toothbrushes and toothpaste in apartments where no one was living.

Lamm’s lawyers said their client was eager to defend himself. Smilowitz’s lawyer called the charges unfair and unwarranted. Information on Nakdimen’s lawyer wasn’t immediately available.