Fred Daibes, a New Jersey businessman, told police in 2013 that he’d lost 22 gold bars during an armed robbery.
Now, U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez has been indicted on charges of “a years-long bribery scheme” — and was allegedly in possession of Daibes’ previously stolen gold.
Daibes is accused of bribing Menendez with the gold and cash.
In the indictment, prosecutors included pictures of four gold bars with the same serial numbers as the ones from the armed robbery, according to a review by NBC News.
Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat, is facing a significant prison sentence.
Federal prosecutors have long claimed records linking Menendez’s gold to Daibes. They’ve even claimed to have found the businessman’s fingerprints on envelopes of cash in Menendez’s jackets.
Now, NBC News has matched these serial numbers against the ones mentioned in the police’s evidence log from the armed robbery case.
“Each gold bar has its own serial number,” Daibes told police and prosecutors at the time, according to a 2014 transcript obtained by NBC. “They’re all stamped…you’ll never see two stamped the same way.”
Police recovered the stolen gold shortly afterward, and Daibes reportedly signed “property release forms” identifying himself as the owner.
According to one legal analyst, the prosecutors can use the serial numbers to prove “the chain of custody” — and thus bribery — even more easily now.
“All of this spells bad news for Sen. Menendez, because the chain of custody — it appears — is going to be really easy to prove up,” NBC legal analyst Danny Cevallos observed. “Was there a quid pro quo? Was it in exchange for the senator’s official acts — or promises of the same?”
Daibes began facing federal charges in 2018. According to prosecutors, Menendez took the businessman’s bribe to interfere in the case. Menendez is also accused of talking to President Joe Biden about appointing a corruptible prosecutor.
Menendez denies any wrongdoing.
“MENENDEZ recommended that the President nominate a U.S. Attorney who MENENDEZ believed he could influence with respect to DAIBES and sought to disrupt a federal criminal prosecution undertaken by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey (“USAO-DNJ”) of DAIBES,” the indictment says.
The indictment includes photos of the serial numbers.
Take a look —
#BREAKING At least four gold bars found in the FBI search of Sen. Robert Menendez’s home had been directly linked to a New Jersey businessman now accused of bribing the state’s senior senator, records showhttps://t.co/D793g6NqMp
— NBC New York (@NBCNewYork) December 4, 2023
The Horn editorial team