Gold bars and Sen. Bob Menendez’s online searches take central role at bribery trial

Prosecutors on Thursday showed jurors in Sen. Bob Menendez’s trial several instances in which he researched the value of gold while trying to help a New Jersey businessman who authorities say bribed him with gold and cash.

Evidence about the New Jersey Democrat’s online searches was prominently displayed to a New York jury, as prosecutors tracked the history of his text messages and Internet queries as he allegedly tried to help Fred Daibes, a prominent real estate developer who is being judged with him.

The evidence is considered crucial in the government’s effort to prove that Menéndez and his wife received gold bars, cash and a luxury car from 2018 to 2022 from three New Jersey businessmen who benefited from favors that Menéndez allegedly gave in return.

Menendez, Daibes and another businessman and co-defendant, Wael Hana, have pleaded not guilty. His wife, Nadine Menendez, faces trial at a later date and is recovering from breast cancer surgery. She also pleaded not guilty.

A third businessman pleaded guilty before trial and testified against the other defendants. Businessman José Uribe said he tried to bribe Menéndez paying for a Mercedes-Benz convertible for Nadine Menendez. In return, he said he wanted the senator to use his influence to stop criminal investigations into his business associates.

O gold bars found in the home Menendez shared with his wife in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, played a prominent role early in the trial when an FBI agent described a 2022 survey from the residence where the senator moved in 2020.

The search found gold bars worth more than $100,000 and more than $486,000 in cash, some stuffed into the pockets of coats hanging in closets, in purses and in shoes and boots. A Mercedes-Benz was parked in the garage.

On Thursday, the topic of gold came up repeatedly as another FBI agent described the internet searches Menendez conducted when he researched the price of gold in April 2019, twice in May 2021, again in October 2021, twice in December 2021, once in January 2022 and again in March and May 2022.

Among the searches, Agent Paul Van Wie said, there were instances in which Menendez searched for the value of a gram, an ounce and a kilo of gold. The agent said a search of Menéndez’s internet history dating back to 2008 showed that the senator had never researched gold prices during that period until April 5, 2019.

Menendez’s lawyers said the gold bars found in the house belonged to his wife and that she kept the senator in the dark about gifts she accepted when she was in financial trouble.

Prosecutors tried to prove on Thursday, through emails, text messages and online searches about the price of gold, that Menendez was interested in gold because he allegedly sought to recommend a new federal prosecutor to New Jersey, which could help Daibes obtain a favorable outcome in a criminal case against him.

Online searches also occurred as Menendez allegedly used his international influence to help Daibes secure a $95 million investment from a Qatari investment fund, taking steps favorable to the Qatari government.

Daibes was responsible for the construction of a series of luxurious waterfront buildings, known as the “Gold Coast”, in the city of Edgewater, New Jersey.

Prosecutors showed the jury email and text correspondence on Thursday, reflecting that Menendez introduced Daibes to a member of the Qatari royal family who was a director of the investment company and also met with Qatari officials and made public statements of support for Qatar while the real estate deal was being negotiated.

After the deal was signed in May 2022, Daibes gave Menéndez at least one gold bar, prosecutors say.

In the 2022 search of Menendez’s home, FBI agents found two one-kilogram gold bars and nine one-ounce gold bars with serial numbers showing they had previously been possessed by Daibes, along with nearly a dozen cash envelopes containing tens of thousands of dollars. of dollars with Daibes’ fingerprints or DNA, according to evidence presented to jurors.

One of the two-pound gold bars was found inside a Ziploc bag wrapped in a paper towel, an FBI agent testified at the start of the trial. In the same closet, the FBI discovered a safe containing loose cash, envelopes of cash, seven 30-gram gold bars and another one-kilogram gold bar, the agent said.

Menendez’s lawyers claim that the closet, which was locked, belonged to his wife and he did not have the key.

In August 2021, according to evidence presented to the jury on Thursday, Menendez used an encrypted messaging app to send Daibes the text of a press release in which he praised the Qatari government, before sending a text message to Daibes: “You might want to send it to them. I’m about to launch.”

When Menendez was charged last fall, he held the powerful position of chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, a position he abandoned after being charged. He has resisted calls, including from prominent Democrats, to resign from the Senate and recently announced that he is running for re-election as independent.