Senator Bob Menendez is facing over a dozen international corruption charges. However, the discovery of gold bars hidden in his New Jersey house was the most captivating element.
Federal agents discovered thirteen gold bars in the summer of 2022, and Menendez’s insatiable interest about their worth is evident in his numerous Google searches. Prosecutors claim that Menendez looked up the gold’s monetary worth online three times.
The senator’s criminal trial starts on Monday, and witnesses are anticipated to provide these and other data.
While serving as the head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the senator was allegedly involved in bribery that influenced federal and state prosecutors to spare his associates, assist the Egyptian government, and facilitate a deal between an associate and an investment firm headed by a member of the Qatari royal family. This alleged corruption occurred while he was still one of the most powerful officials in the United States regarding foreign policy.
Prosecutors will have to show that the senator did something to earn those gold bars if they want to win their case. Prosecutors have access to the senator’s web history, phone records, and other technological data dating back years.
According to the prosecution, such searches were mostly based on correspondence between the Menendezes and Fred Daibes, a businessman from New Jersey who is suspected of bribing Menendez. Allegedly, the senator attempted to shield Daibes from legal issues and help him take advantage of a business opportunity involving an investment firm owned by a member of the royal family of Qatar.
The Menendezes allegedly received gold bars from Egyptian-American businessman Wael “Will” Hana, who is also a co-defendant in the case. After the couple’s house was investigated by authorities, Nadine Menendez allegedly put the money into bank accounts she controlled after selling some of them.
The prosecution’ framing of the timestamps for each Google search looks like this:
I want to know the value of one kilogram of gold.
Having dined with Hana and met with Egyptian authorities on their trip to Qatar and Egypt in mid-October 2021, Menendez and his wife went home. The federal indictment states that Daibes’ driver picked them up at JFK Airport.
Menendez has allegedly sought to have other prosecutors spare Daibes, who is confronted with distinct fraud accusations in federal court in New Jersey, according to federal prosecutors.
The Menendezes were driven to their New Jersey residence by the driver.
“How much is one kilo of gold worth?” was the query the senator entered the following day.
‘Gold price per kilogram’
Thank you, Daibes received a text message from Nadine Menendez in January 2022; the indictment does not mention the driver. A winter holiday.
According to federal prosecutors, the senator had never called the prosecutor who was working on Daibes’ case before, but he did so around two hours later.
The senator looked up “kilo of gold price” a few days down the road.
An envelope with hundreds of dollars in cash was later discovered at the couple’s New Jersey home, including the driver’s fingerprints. There was Daibes’ DNA and his return address on the envelope as well.
A price per kilogram of gold
The Qatari investment firm agreed to invest in Daibes’s massive New Jersey real estate project in May 2022 following a meeting between Menendez and Daibes.
The accusation states that “thereafter” Daibes gave Menendez “at least one gold bar.”
Edgewater, the New Jersey town where Daibes’ development would be located, was the setting for a dinner three days after the senator, his wife, and Daibes signed the letter. Around 10:30 p.m. that same night, the senator went back to Google and typed up “one kilo gold price.”