Raj Mukherji is a 21-year-old New Jersey lobbyist and political consultant who was cleared earlier this year of a Middlesex County indictment. In January 2007, prosecutors dismissed a five-count stalking indictment against Mukherji, which his lawyers had decried as false, after it was revealed that his accuser had called him hundreds of times and she had been removed from his residence by police after the charges were brought.[1]
Mukherji had also been charged in a federal indictment with impersonating a defense intelligence official, misdemeanor possession of false or fraudulent identification, and providing false information. But after the indictment, the U.S. Department of Defense, at the behest of Mukherji's lawyers, verified his commendable service in defense intelligence for the Marine Corps. Two military lawyers confirmed that the seized credentials actually accurately matched his military data, with the exception of his age. Mukherji apparently had used the data on a privately manufactured credential to be admitted to liquor-serving establishments before he turned 21 years old. His partner in the influential lobbying firm Impact NJ, LLC is Michael Murphy, the former Morris County Prosecutor and candidate for Governor and stepson of the late two-term Governor and Supreme Court Chief Justice Richard J. Hughes. Mukherji is a previous Director of Technology and Vice Chairman of the Publius Group, which owned the heavily trafficked political news source PoliticsNJ.com, until its sale to The New York Observer. Mukherji is also a real estate developer and was designated the Downtown Redeveloper in his hometown of Fanwood.[2] He has appeared on MTV’s Room Raiders, as a guest of Steve Adubato on PBS, interviewed by Bobby Rivers on FOX’s Good Day NY, appeared alongside legislators on Capitol Debates on TV Asia[3], and was a co-panelist with former Governor DiFrancesco on the political talk show Inside Out. He has performed on Broadway in A Christmas Carol. He is a graduate student at the University of Pennsylvania.[4]
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Military and political service
Mukherji has gained notoriety in New Jersey political circles as a “whiz kid” of sorts.[5] He was on the cover of Business News NJ after the September 11 attacks for enlisting in the Marines at the age of 17 while he was a CEO of a technology company.[6] He served in military intelligence and later, as a linguist in the reserve.[7] Mukherji was appointed by then-U.S. Senator Jon Corzine to his Military Academy Board in 2003. In 2004, then-Governor Jim McGreevey appointed him to the Governor’s Council on Volunteerism and Community Service.[8] He was also a Superior Court-appointed member of the Juvenile Conference Committee. His leadership and community service efforts have been recognized as a recipient of the Daniel J. O’Hara Memorial Service Award and as an honoree of the local chapter of Optimist International. He was also selected to participate in the Junior Summit international forum conducted by the Media Laboratory at M.I.T.[9]
Philanthropy
Mukherji is a co-founder and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Semper Fi Homes Foundation, a nonprofit provider of new construction and home conversions for low-income disabled veterans.[10]
References
- ^ Indictment dismissed
- ^ The Fanwoodian: Downtown development steadily moving forward
- ^ News India Times: Excerpts from Capitol Debates episode on lobbying
- ^ Raj Mukherji bio
- ^ Top 50: New Jersey’s Rising Stars
- ^ Business News NJ: A Teenage Entrepreneur Goes to War
- ^ Star-Ledger: At 20, he’s done it all: Lobbyist is college grad, Marine vet, and real estate whiz
- ^ India Abroad: Devineni and Mukherji named on NJ advisory panels
- ^ Raj Mukherji bio at Impact NJ
- ^ Courier-Times: Foundation renovates veteran's home
