ZestW

Senator Bob Menendez and his wife reportedly sold hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of gold bars despite having faced foreclosure just three years earlier and neglecting to initially disclose it on their ethics filings. 

Businesswoman Nadine Arslanian, 56, cashed in up to $400,000 worth of gold last spring, in a sale that occurred just months before a federal investigation into the New Jersey Democrat was announced to the public. 

The sale was reported to have taken place between April 7 and June 16, 2022, according to the New York Post. 

Menendez, 69, did not initially list the gold on his 2020 financial disclosure but filed an amendment in March 2022 revealing Arslanian had up to $250,000 in gold bars. 

Then, in June, Menendez filed an additional amended report, adding a sale by his wife for the amount between $200,000 and $400,000 of the bullion.

Senator Bob Menendez and his wife reportedly sold hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of gold bars despite having faced foreclosure just three years earlier and neglecting to initially disclose it on their ethics filings

Businesswoman Nadine Arslanian, 56, cashed in up to $400,000 worth of gold last spring, in a sale that occurred just months before a federal investigation into the New Jersey Democrat was announced to the public

Menendez, 69, did not initially list the gold on his 2020 financial disclosure but filed an amendment in March 2022 revealing Arslanian had up to $250,000 in gold bars

Arslanian was reportedly struggling financially when the bars were sold, and even facing foreclosure, before she married Menendez in 2020.

It is unclear how she came into possession of the bars, which is equivalent to up to 13 pounds of pure gold.

This isn't the first time the couple faced bribery allegations. 

In November 2022, Arslanian was investigated by federal prosecutors about whether she accepted gifts in exchange for political favors from her husband.

Menendez married Arslanian in 2020 after the pair met at a New Jersey IHOP in 2016.

The US attorney's office for the Southern District of New York then subpoenaed business associates of Arslanian, insiders told the Wall Street Journal at the time. 

Investigators in the probe, which dates back to 2019 before the couple was even married, have executed search warrants on the homes and businesses on the founder of IS EG Halal, a company in the couple's home city of Edgewater that is the only business in town allowed to certify halal meat that is shipped off to Egypt.

Wael Hana, the founder of IS EG Halal, is reportedly an associate of Arslanian.

According to court documents filed by Hana's lawyer, prosecutors were looking into possible undisclosed foreign lobbying in the US and other potential violations of federal law. 

Then in June, Menendez filed an additional amended report, adding a sale by his wife for the amount between $200,000 and $400,000 of the bullion.

The lawyer, Lawrence Lustberg, was seeking the return of government-seized property.

After a trial in 2017 the judge declared a mistrial because the jury could not agree on a verdict. The judge then acquitted Menendez of some of the charges in 2018 and the Justice Department said it would not re-try him.

Menendez´s attorneys argued that Melgen´s gifts were tokens of their longtime friendship, not bribes. Menendez paid for some of the trips he took to Melgen´s resort in the Dominican Republic.

Melgen was convicted on healthcare fraud charges in Florida, but former President Donald Trump commuted his sentence during his final days in office. A White House statement at the time credited Menendez with backing clemency.

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7pa3IpbCmmZmhe6S7ja6iaKaVrMBwrdGtoJyklWJ%2Bc4CTbWlpa1%2BIsq%2Bt06ipZnqfl3qOsc2epZ2dqqh6uLXFnmScmaOdsqV5k2lnhGWXpLmlecGaqaxlmqrAtXnYnpirq12brqS1zaBkn6eimrCtu9KuqZ5lmKS6pnrHraSl