NEW YORK (AP) — Nadine Menendez, the wife of former U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, was convicted Monday of teaming up with her husband to accept bribes of cash, gold bars and a luxury car from three New Jersey men looking for help with their business dealings or legal troubles.
The jury returned a verdict of guilty on all counts in the same federal courthouse in Manhattan where a different jury convicted Bob Menendez of many of the same charges last year. The Democrat is supposed to begin serving an 11-year prison term in June.
Nadine Menendez, who stood but did not appear to react as the verdict was delivered by the jury foreperson, was scheduled to be sentenced on June 12, six days after her husband is expected to report to prison.
Outside the courthouse, she wore a pink mask as she stood next to her lawyer, Barry Coburn, said he was “devastated by the verdict.”
“We fought hard and it hurts,” he said. “This is a very rough day for us.”
The evidence shown to jurors over a three-week trial followed the timeline of the whirlwind romance between the couple that began in early 2018 and continued after criminal charges were brought against them in September 2023. Repeatedly during the trial, prosecutors said they were “partners in crime.”
During a 2022 raid on the couple’s Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, home, FBI agents found nearly $150,000 worth of gold bars and $480,000 in cash stuffed in boots, shoeboxes and jackets. In the garage was a Mercedes-Benz convertible, also an alleged bribe.
Both Nadine and Bob Menendez said they are innocent and never took bribes.
Initially, they were to be tried together, along with the three businessmen, but Nadine Menendez’s trial was postponed a year ago after she was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent surgery.
Bob Menendez, 71, resigned from the Senate last August following his conviction. Before the charges were brought he had been chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Prosecutors accused Nadine Menendez of starting to facilitating bribes to the senator around the time that they began dating, before they married in the fall of 2020.
At the time, she was in danger of losing her home in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, after missing nearly $20,000 in mortgage payments, trial testimony showed. A longtime friend, Wael Hana, provided cash to save the home — and prosecutors said that in return, the senator began helping Hana preserve a business monopoly he had arranged with the Egyptian government to certify that imported meat met religious requirements.
Nadine Menendez also needed a new car after her old one was destroyed when she struck and killed a man crossing a street. (She did not face charges in the crash). Prosecutors said a businessman, Jose Uribe, gave her a Mercedes-Benz, and in return Bob Menendez used his clout to pressure the New Jersey attorney general’s office to stop investigating some of Uribe’s associates.
Prosecutor said more cash and gold bribes were paid to the couple by Fred Daibes, a prominent real estate developer who prosecutors said wanted the senator to protect him from a criminal case he was facing in New Jersey. Prosecutors said Bob Menendez also helped Daibes secure a $95 million investment from a Qatari investment fund.
Nadine Menendez, 58, was described by prosecutors at her trial as crucial to the scheme, enabling the senator to communicate with the businessmen and Egyptian government officials.
Besides his conviction on bribery charges, Bob Menendez also was convicted of acting as an agent for the Egyptian government. Prosecutors said that in return for some of the bribes, he ghostwrote a letter for Egyptian officials to give to his fellow senators to calm their concerns about human rights abuses and encourage them to lift a hold on $300 million in military aid.
Coburn had argued during his closing arguments to the jury that the evidence was insufficient for a conviction.
“These things we’re talking about here are unproven,” he said.
He said the dealings the senator had with the businessmen were just what a politician is supposed to do for his constituents.
In a rebuttal argument , Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Richenthal urged the jury to convict Nadine Menendez, calling the evidence against her “consistent and overwhelming.”
Uribe pleaded guilty and testified against the others. Hana and Dabies were convicted along with the senator. Hana has been sentenced to eight years in prison while Daibes got seven years behind bars.
Acting U.S. Attorney Matthew Podolsky said in a statement that the verdict “sends the clear message that the power of government officials may not be put up for sale and that all those who facilitate corruption will be held accountable for their actions.”
