A collection of gold bars, which the FBI discovered during a search of Democratic New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez’s home, now appear to be linked to a 2013 robbery involving a codefendant who’s accused of bribing him, according to NBC News.
The bars, which the FBI found while searching his home as part of an investigation into federal corruption charges, are apparently the same bars once stolen from the home of his codefendant Fred Daibes, per NBC News.
In 2013 Daibes reported to police that home invaders stole 22 gold bars from his Edgewater, New Jersey home as well as $500,000 in cash. Police quickly apprehended the suspects and returned the property to Daibes, per NBC.
Daibes signed a property release form to get his belongings back, and the unique serial numbers on each gold bar were documented. The numbers match the four gold bars that the FBI found in Menendez’s Clifton, New Jersey residence, per NBC. (RELATED: Fetterman Hires George Santos To Give Bob Menendez A Pep Talk)
The outlet notes, for example, a Swiss Bank Corp. gold bar with the serial number 590005 was reported stolen by Daibes and then returned to him. The same bar was discovered by the FBI in Menendez’s home in June,
A grand jury in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York indicted Menendez on corruption charges in September following allegations that he accepted bribes made on behalf of the Egyptian government. The indictment accused Daibes, one of Menendez’s four codefendants, of bribing the New Jersey Senator “in exchange for using Menendez’s power and influence as a Senator to to protect and enrich” himself and the Egyptian government.
Lawyers for Menendez told NBC news that Menendez “will not be commenting on anonymous media leaks designed to prejudice his right to a fair trial. He looks forward to addressing the government’s claims in court, based on a complete record of the evidence.”