Senator Bob Menendez’s wife Nadine Arslanian cashed in $400K of gold bars – just years after facing foreclosure of her home

Senator Bob Menendez and his wife allegedly sold hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of gold bullion when seized three years earlier and neglected to initially disclose it in their ethics documents.

Businesswoman Nadine Arslanian, 56, cashed in as much as $400,000 in gold last spring in a sale that came just months before a federal probe into the New York Democrat was publicly announced. Jersey.

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

Menendez, 69, initially did not list gold in his 2020 financial statements, but filed an amendment in March 2022 revealing that Arslanian held up to $250,000 in gold bullion.

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

Businesswoman Nadine Arslanian, 56, cashed in as much as $400,000 in gold last spring in a sale that came just months before a federal probe into the New York Democrat was announced publicly. Jersey.

Menendez, 69, initially did not list gold in his 2020 financial statements, but filed an amendment in March 2022 revealing that Arslanian held up to $250,000 worth of gold bullion.

Arslanian reportedly struggled financially when the bars were sold, and even foreclosed, before marrying Menendez in 2020.

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

This is not the first time the couple have faced corruption allegations.

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

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

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York then subpoenaed Arslanian’s associates, insiders told the Wall Street Journal at the time.

Investigators in the probe, which dates back to 2019 even before the couple were married, executed search warrants at the homes and businesses of IS founder EG Halal, a business in Edgewater, the couple’s hometown, which is the only business in town. authorized to certify halal meat shipped to Egypt.

Wael Hana, the founder of IS EG Halal, is said to be an associate of Arslanian.

According to court documents filed by Hana’s attorney, prosecutors were investigating possible undisclosed foreign lobbying in the United States and other potential violations of federal law.

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

Lawyer Lawrence Lustberg was seeking the return of property seized by the government.

After a trial in 2017, the judge declared the trial a mistrial because the jury failed to agree on a verdict. The judge later acquitted Menendez of some of the charges in 2018 and the Justice Department said it would not try him again.

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

Melgen was convicted of health care fraud 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 supporting clemency.