A businessman told police that he was the victim of a robbery in 2013 and asked them to recover the 22 stolen gold bars. Four bars were found a decade later in Menendez's home.

At least four gold bars found in the FBI search of Sen. Bob Menendez’s home had been directly linked to a New Jersey businessman now accused of bribing Menendez, the state’s senior senator, Bergen County prosecutor’s records from a 2013 robbery case show.

The businessman, Fred Daibes, reported to police that he was the victim of an armed robbery in 2013, and he asked police to recover the gold bars stolen from him. Daibes reported that $500,000 in cash and 22 gold bars were stolen, Edgewater, New Jersey, police records show. Police later caught four people with the stolen goods.

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A decade later, it said, the FBI found four gold bars with unique serial numbers in the Clifton, New Jersey, home of Menendez and his wife, Nadine.

  • AutoTL;DR@lemmings.worldBEnglish
    21·
    7 months ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:

    A decade later, it said, the FBI found four gold bars with unique serial numbers in the Clifton, New Jersey, home of Menendez and his wife, Nadine.

    For example, a Swiss Bank Corp. gold bar with serial number 590005 that the FBI said it seized from Menendez’s home in a search this year had also been reported stolen by Daibes — and returned to him — a decade earlier.

    “All of this spells bad news for Sen. Menendez, because the chain of custody — it appears — is going to be really easy to prove up,” NBC legal analyst Danny Cevallos said.

    In a statement about the ties of the gold bars found at his home to a decade-old robbery, counsel for Menendez said he “will not be commenting on anonymous media leaks designed to prejudice his right to a fair trial.

    In exchange, investigators alleged, Menendez used his position as chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to help Hana win an exclusive halal meat inspection contract with the Egyptian government.

    As for Daibes’ separate bank fraud case, a federal judge in New Jersey threw out a plea deal in which he pleaded guilty to one count and faced a sentence of probation after the new bribery charges came to light.

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