Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and his wife, Nadine, have been indicted on charges of bribery. Federal prosecutors announced the charges Friday and said in a search of the senator’s home, they found $100,000 in gold bars and $480,000 in hidden cash.
According to the indictment, Menendez and his wife agreed to accept hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes in exchange to protect three New Jersey businessmen — Wael “Will” Hana, Jose Uribe and Fred Daibes — and benefit Egypt.
“Those bribes included cash, gold, payments toward a home mortgage, compensation for a low-or-no-show job, a luxury vehicle, and other things of value,” the document said.
The filing said Menendez used his power as a Senator to benefit Hana and the government of Egypt. Menendez provided sensitive U.S. government information and “took other steps that secretly aided the Government of Egypt.”
The court also found that Menendez promised to disrupt a criminal investigation and prosecution related to Uribe, and that the senator recommended President Biden’s nominee for U.S. Attorney for New Jersey be someone “who Menendez believed could be influenced by Menendez” regarding prosecution of Daibes.
In June 2022, FBI agents executed search warrants on Menendez’s home and found more than $480,000 in cash, “much of it stuffed into envelopes and hidden in clothing, closets, and a safe.”
Agents found envelopes of cash inside jackets bearing Menendez’s name. Their search found home furnishings, a luxury vehicle and gold bars all provided by the businessmen.
This is Menendez’s second indictment and unrelated to the previous charge, which alleged he accepted lavish gifts and campaign contributions from a Florida doctor to pressure government officials.
The Senate Historical Office said Menendez appears to be the first sitting senator in history to have been indicted on two unrelated criminal allegations, The Associated Press found.