Connect with us

New Jersey

Gold bars in baggies and cash crammed in boots: Prosecutors detail Menendez's hoarded riches • New Jersey Monitor

Published

on

Gold bars in baggies and cash crammed in boots: Prosecutors detail Menendez's hoarded riches • New Jersey Monitor


Peek into Sen. Bob Menendez’s closets and basement, and you’ll learn he’s secretly a slob, with his and his wife’s belongings strewn around as if a typhoon just blew through.

But in 2022, that chaos hid something worse, federal prosecutors said Thursday — proof of his corruption. Jammed into jackets and boots and crammed into bags and boxes were 13 gold bars and $486,461 in cash, the fruits of five years of bribes New Jersey’s senior senator and his wife took from three businessmen hungry for Menendez’s influence, prosecutors said.

On the fourth day of the Democratic senator’s corruption trial in Manhattan, prosecutor Lara Pomerantz spent several hours chronicling the cash, gold, and other items FBI agents found during a June 16, 2022, search of the couple’s Englewood Cliffs home.

Aristotelis Kougemitros, the FBI special agent who led the search, narrated photos of the senator’s home and its hoarded riches, and Pomerantz gave the confiscated cash and gold, sealed in evidence bags, to jurors for inspection.

Advertisement

Investigators found so much money in envelopes — banded together in stacks or loose in bags — that they quit photographing it and Kougemitros called for backup, he testified. Two agents arrived with an automated cash counter.

“The sheer volume of bills that we encountered was too much to count by hand,” he said.

Thursday, Pomerantz and Kougemitros took so long to list all the loot investigators found around the Menendezes’ split-level home that U.S. District Judge Sidney H. Stein stood up to stretch his legs.

Menendez lawyer Avi Weitzman had told jurors on Wednesday that the senator’s wife, Nadine, took the cash, gold, and other bribes without her husband’s knowledge and stashed much of it in her deadbolted closet and the locked safe inside it.

The senator had a habit of keeping cash at home, rooted in his experience as the son of immigrants who fled Cuba with nothing, Weitzman added. Check the money’s date, he told jurors, saying they were older bills long out of circulation that would prove Menendez collected them over decades.

Advertisement

On Thursday, Pomerantz clearly sought to deflate that defense. She showed seized stacks of hundred-dollar bills with April 2022 dates stamped on the bank’s band. She told jurors most of the money was found packed into pockets of the senator’s coats and in bags in the commonly accessible basement.

The closet in question became a point of debate, with Kougemitros insisting investigators found Menendez’s navy blazer and men’s ties hanging inside the closet, suggesting it was a shared space.

But Adam Fee, a Menendez attorney, pushed back on cross-examination, countering that the blazer was hanging on the back of the master bedroom door, not inside the closet, which he said was Nadine’s alone.

The men’s ties? They belonged to a teenager who used to live in the home, Fee said, pointing to the skulls and cheese-eating mice dotting several ties. Nadine Menendez had two children from a previous marriage, including a son named Andre.

Fee asked Kougemitros if he’d ever seen the senator wear such sassy ties.

Advertisement

“In fairness, I haven’t really studied photos of Senator Menendez wearing ties,” Kougemitros responded.

In court, Menendez’s ties have leaned patriotic, every day a different variation of red and blue.

Cash aside, all the gold bars the FBI seized were found in the closet, Fee said. Whoever put them there didn’t worry about their storage, photos showed. One was wrapped in a paper towel, shoved in a Ziploc bag, and left on the floor beneath other detritus.

Beyond the cash, gold bars, jewelry, air purifier, and fitness machine the couple allegedly accepted as bribes, the FBI’s photos show the couple liked luxury brands, with bags branded Prada, Giorgio Armani, Burberry, and more making appearances in the pictures.

Menendez listened to the testimony without much of a reaction, occasionally resting his cheek in his palm.

Advertisement

Criminalizing friendship?

Before Pomerantz called Kougemitros as the case’s first witness, the attorneys for Menendez’s two co-defendants — Wael “Will” Hana and Fred Daibes — delivered their opening statements.

Hana is an Egyptian-American businessman and longtime friend of Nadine Menendez who prosecutors say bribed the couple with gold and cash to help him gain a monopoly on exporting halal meat to Egypt, free up military arms and aid to Egypt, and supply sensitive U.S. government information to Egyptian officials.

Daibes is an Edgewater real estate developer who prosecutors say gave Menendez gold and cash to disrupt a bank fraud investigation into him by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Jersey and help him land a lucrative investment from a member of Qatar’s royal family.

Advertisement

Attorney Lawrence Lustberg, who represents Hana, told jurors prosecutors were making innocent actions look sinister by criminalizing friendships, commercial success, and advocating for one’s homeland.

Hana had been close friends with Nadine Menendez for 15 years and gave her gifts out of friendship, Lustberg said. Gold is a gift people particularly from the Middle East like to give, he added.

“Will’s gifts got nicer as his business succeeded,” Lustberg said.

Prosecutors say Hana also gave Nadine Menendez a low- or no-show job at his meat exporting business as a bribe. Lustberg conceded Hana paid her three $10,000 checks to help him set up operations in other countries as his business expanded. But she didn’t do the work, so “he fired her,” he added.

“Ask yourself – is this what a briber does?” Lustberg said.

Advertisement

Attorney Cesar de Castro, who represents Daibes, echoed Lustberg’s sentiment, saying prosecutors were “sensationalizing” gift-giving. This is the argument Menendez and his friend and co-defendant, Salomon Melgen, made during their 2017 corruption trial, which ended in a hung jury.

“Investing in precious metals like gold is normal and common … gold is even sold at Costco,” de Castro said. “There’s nothing criminal about being generous.”

Fee is expected to resume his cross examination of Kougemitros Friday. Prosecutors have indicated they plan to call an FBI agent to testify Monday to talk about Menendez’s actions in Egypt.

A cancer diagnosis

Advertisement

While Menendez treks to Manhattan daily to fight his second corruption case in the past decade, his wife has been home battling a medical crisis that prompted Stein to postpone her trial to at least July.

Thursday, as de Castro was defending Daibes, Menendez’s Senate staff sent out a statement revealing that Nadine Menendez has stage III breast cancer and needs a mastectomy, follow-up surgery, and possibly radiation treatment.

In the statement, Menendez said his wife decided to ask him to disclose her medical condition “as a result of constant press inquiries and reporters following my wife.”

“We are of course, concerned about the seriousness and advanced stage of the disease,” he said in the statement. “We hope and pray for the best results. We ask the press and the public to give her the time, space and privacy to deal with this challenging health condition as she undergoes surgery and recovery.”

Advertisement

GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX

Advertisement



Source link

New Jersey

Ice, freezing rain alerts expand to 10 N.J. counties. Wind advisory issued for 50 mph gusts Monday.

Published

on

Ice, freezing rain alerts expand to 10 N.J. counties. Wind advisory issued for 50 mph gusts Monday.


Winter weather advisories have been expanded to 10 New Jersey counties with freezing rain that could cause a dangerous layer of ice tonight.

The National Weather Service has also issued a wind advisory for 16 counties Monday with up to 50 mph gusts possible.

The more immediate concern is freezing rain already hitting the state Sunday evening.

The National Weather Service has expanded winter weather advisories to 10 New Jersey counties with freezing rain creating the potential for dangerous ice Sunday night. High winds gusting to 50 mph are expected Monday.AccuWeather.com and National Weather Service

Winter weather advisories for Bergen, Essex, Hudson Passaic and Union counties expire between 10 p.m. and midnight.

Advertisement

Winter weather advisories for Hunterdon, Morris, Somerset, Sussex and Warren counties take effect at 6 p.m. and run through 2 a.m.

As temperatures remain near or below freezing across northern New Jersey this evening, precipitation will fall as freezing rain, particularly in Warren and Morris counties where a glaze to one-tenth of an inch of ice accumulation is possible.

N.J. weather: Ice storm alerts expanded to 7 counties. Wind gusts up to 50 mph Monday.
The National Weather Service has expanded winter weather advisories to 10 New Jersey counties with freezing rain creating the potential for dangerous ice Sunday night. High winds gusting to 50 mph are expected Monday.AccuWeather.com and National Weather Service

The National Weather Service warns that even areas outside the advisory that remain near freezing at the onset of precipitation could experience localized icing, especially on shaded surfaces that have remained below freezing for more than 36 hours.

Temperatures will rise above freezing areawide during the pre-dawn hours Monday as a warm front lifts through the region, changing any remaining freezing rain to plain rain.

A brief break in the rain is likely prior to daybreak Monday.

The warm front will be quickly followed by a strong cold front Monday afternoon, bringing another period of rain that may be moderate in intensity at times.

Advertisement

High temperatures Monday will reach the upper 40s along the coast before the cold front passes, bringing high winds to the area.

N.J. weather: Ice storm alerts expanded to 7 counties. Wind gusts up to 50 mph Monday.
The National Weather Service has expanded winter weather advisories to 10 New Jersey counties with freezing rain creating the potential for dangerous ice Sunday night. High winds gusting to 50 mph are expected Monday.AccuWeather.com and National Weather Service

The wind advisory for 16 counties runs from 10 a.m. Monday to 1 p.m. Tuesday. Just Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Passaic and Union counties are not under wind advisories.

“Strong westerly winds develop Monday with wind gusts up to 50 mph and a wind advisory has been issued,” the weather service said Sunday evening. “Some tree damage and power outages possible.”

Tuesday will be markedly colder with high temperatures struggling to rise above freezing even at the Jersey Shore.

Wind chills in the teens and low 20s are expected during the day.

Skies will be partly cloudy with continued gusty winds of 20 to 30 mph.

Advertisement
N.J. weather: Black ice, freezing rain alerts issued for 6 N.J. counties
Freezing rain and wind gusts up to 50 mph are expected over the next 24 hours. AccuWeather

Wednesday brings slightly milder conditions with highs in the mid 30s to near 40 degrees, though it remains well below normal for late December.

The extended forecast shows below-normal temperatures continuing through the end of the week and into the New Year.

Thursday may bring a chance of snow showers as a weak cold front passes through, though accumulations are expected to be light.

Friday looks dry with highs in the low to mid 30s.

Another weather system may impact the area late next weekend, potentially bringing a mix of rain and snow, though forecast confidence remains low for that timeframe.

Current weather radar



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

New Jersey

Deadly helicopter collision in New Jersey kills one, critically injures another

Published

on

Deadly helicopter collision in New Jersey kills one, critically injures another


NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

One person was killed and another critically injured when two helicopters collided and crash-landed in Hammonton, New Jersey, on Sunday morning, authorities said.

The Hammonton Police Department told Fox News Digital that it received calls of an aviation crash at approximately 11:25 a.m. involving two helicopters in the area of the 100 block of Basin Road.

Police, fire and EMS responded, extinguishing one helicopter that was engulfed in flames.

Advertisement

The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board have been notified and will investigate the crash, police said.

MIDAIR PLANE CRASH KILLS ONE PERSON NEAR COLORADO AIRPORT AS BOTH PLANES CATCH FIRE

Two helicopters collided Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025, in Hammonton, N.J. (WTXF)

New Jersey Lt. Gov. Tahesha Way wrote on X that she has been updated on the midair collision.

The site of a deadly helicopter collision in Hammonton, N.J., on Dec. 28, 2025. (WTXF)

Advertisement

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP 

“The Atlantic County Office of Emergency Management, Hammonton Police Department, and @NJSP personnel are on the scene,” she said.

This is a breaking news story; check back for updates.



Source link

Continue Reading

New Jersey

New Jersey Celebrities Who Died in 2025

Published

on

New Jersey Celebrities Who Died in 2025


These actors and musicians all called the Garden State home at some point in their lives. Though they have passed, their work and spirits endure.

Peter Greene

1965-December 12, 2025

Born and raised in Montclair. Greene attended Montclair High School but dropped out before graduating, according to his IMDB biography, and ran away from home as a teenager, he revealed in a 1996 magazine interview. He struggled with homelessness and drug addiction before pursuing acting and became best known for his villainous roles in the films Pulp Fiction and The Mask. Greene was slated to begin production on an indie thriller this January, the New York Post reported. He was 60.

Eddie Palmieri

1936-August 6, 2025

Eddie Palmieri

Photo: Shutterstock/lev radin

The Grammy-winning musician was a New York City native but was living in Hackensack when he died at home at the age of 88. Palmieri’s decades-long career was “marked by his groundbreaking fusion of Afro-Caribbean rhythms and jazz harmonies,” wrote Manahil Ahmad in an obituary for NorthJersey.com. “His orchestra La Perfecta, formed in the early 1960s, set a new standard for Latin music….showcasing his explosive piano style—a blend of precision, power and improvisational grit.”

Advertisement

Palmieri performed at the Montclair Jazz Festival in 2019. Earlier this month, on what would have been his 89th birthday, the festival posted a tribute on their Instagram account. “We are so thankful to Eddie for his music and his friendship!” it concluded. “Long may his legacy continue!”

Malcolm-Jamal Warner

1970-July 20, 2025

The Jersey City-born actor, beloved for his role as Theodore “Theo” Huxtable on NBC sitcom The Cosby Show, died in an accidental drowning off the coast of Costa Rica, ABC News reported. He was 54. Warner played Huxtable from 1984 to 1992, and was nominated for an Emmy for outstanding supporting actor in a comedy series in 1986. More recently, he starred as a surgeon on Fox medical drama The Resident until the show ended in 2023.

“Deeply saddened by the tragic loss of Jersey City native Malcolm-Jamal Warner,” Governor Phil Murphy posted on social media. “[…] Malcom-Jamal brought joy and hope to millions of Americans. We are praying for the Warner family during this incredibly difficult time.”

Connie Francis

1937-July 16, 2025



The Newark-born pop singer, best known for ’50s and ’60s hits like “Who’s Sorry Now?” and “Where the Boys Are,” passed away at the age of 87 this summer. Dubbed “the girl with the million-dollar cry” by Dick Clark, she was the first solo female artist to top the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Francis spent her early years in Brooklyn before her family moved back to New Jersey, where they lived in Newark’s Ironbound section and later Belleville. Francis attended Newark Arts High School for a few years before transferring to Belleville High School, where she graduated in 1955. She was inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame’s Class of 2016 at a 2017 ceremony held at Asbury Park’s Convention Hall.

Advertisement

Just two months before her death, Francis had responded to news that her deep cut “Pretty Little Baby” had gone viral on TikTo, six decades after its original release. “My thanks to TikTok and its members for the wonderful, and oh so unexpected, reception given to my 1961 recording,” she wrote in a Facebook post. Her publicist and record-label president, Rob Roberts, had informed her of her “viral hit”—a term she didn’t understand. “Clearly out of touch with present day music statistics terminology, my initial response was to ask: ‘What’s that?’” she continued. “Thank you everyone!”

Lenny Welch

1938-April 8, 2025

Though born in New York City, the pop singer was raised in Asbury Park, where he was shaped by the vibrant Black music scene on the city’s West Side. He attended Asbury Park High School and joined a local vocal group called the Mar-Keys, which, according to the Asbury Park Press, opened for Little Richard at city’s Savoy Theatre in the 1950s. He later became best known for his cover of “Since I Fell for You,” which hit number 4 on the Billboard chart in 1963.

During a 2011 panel about the history of race and music, Bruce Springsteen referred to Welch as “Mr. Asbury Park,” according to NJ.com. Later that year, Welch returned to his hometown to perform at the Soul of Asbury Park concert held at the Paramount Theatre. In 2012, he was inducted into Asbury Park High School’s Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame. A few years before his death, in 2021, Welch told the Asbury Park Press that he thought about the city “every day” and hoped to return “before I leave this earth.” He said he wanted to “walk around, go up Springwood Avenue because that’s where I grew up….just walk up the street, look around, visit relatives’ gravesites […].” Welch died in Florida at the age of 86.

Timothee Chalamet in Marty SupremeTimothee Chalamet in Marty Supreme

New Jersey-based makeup artist Kyra Panchenko transformed Chalamet into the brash, charismatic Marty Mauser.

Maggie Doyne, cofounder of Kopila Valley Children’s Home and School in NepalMaggie Doyne, cofounder of Kopila Valley Children’s Home and School in Nepal

Between the Mountain and the Sky spotlights the transformative Kopila Valley Children’s Home and School, cofounded by Mendham native Maggie Doyne.





Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Trending