US Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair Found with Gold Bars at Home... Accused of Bribery by Real Estate Developer

A large amount of cash and gold bars received as bribes were found at the home of Bob Menendez, a senior Democratic U.S. Senator and current chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Cash and gold bars seized from the home of Senator Bob Menendez.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 22nd (local time), The New York Times (NYT) reported that the New York Manhattan Federal Prosecutor's Office publicly disclosed that it had seized cash and gold bars as evidence while indicting Senator Menendez and his wife, Nadine Menendez, on bribery charges.

According to the report, prosecutors discovered $550,000 (approximately 730 million KRW) in cash along with gold bars worth $100,000 (approximately 130 million KRW) in the closet of Menendez’s residence last year. Federal prosecutors stated that the Menendez couple received luxury cars as bribes in addition to cash and gold bars, and that businesspeople paid off their mortgage loans.

The prosecutors also indicted three individuals on bribery charges: Wael Hana, a well-known real estate developer in New Jersey, Jose Uribe, and Fred Daibes.

It was revealed that Senator Menendez intervened in the appointment of the New Jersey U.S. Attorney to suppress the investigation into the New Jersey businessman who gave him bribes.

In 2021, he recommended attorney Philip Sellinger to President Joe Biden, who has the authority to make appointments, and Sellinger was indeed appointed as the U.S. Attorney for New Jersey. However, it was confirmed that Sellinger did not exercise influence over the investigation into the New Jersey businessman as Menendez had hoped.

Senator Menendez is also accused of providing U.S. government diplomatic information to the Egyptian government to assist the businessman who bribed him in securing contracts with the Egyptian government.

After the indictment was made public, Senator Menendez issued a statement claiming innocence, saying, "The prosecutors are making false claims about the legitimate day-to-day operations of my district office."

The Menendez couple is scheduled to appear at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in Manhattan on the 27th to undergo arraignment procedures.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.