When information broke that Senator Bob Menendez had been indicted on bribery fees, it wasn’t precisely stunning. The senator had already been charged with bribery again in 2015 however was by no means convicted. However whereas the costs themselves could also be nothing new, the main points of the case are, on the very least, entertaining. We’re speaking cash-stuffed jackets, a brand new Mercedes-Benz, and literal gold bars right here. And that’s not even entering into the damning textual content messages and Google searches. However whereas a luxurious automotive is fairly run-of-the-mill by comparability, it appears like there’s really a a lot darker story behind it.
The New York Instances experiences that in December 2018, at about 7:30 p.m., Nadine Arslanian, Menendez’s now-wife, hit 49-year-old Richard Koop together with her automotive. Koop was taken to the hospital and declared useless. As a substitute of being arrested, Arslanian was allowed to depart the scene and the crash was basically written off as an accident. Alcohol and marijuana had been present in Koop’s system, however Arslanian was by no means examined.
“It’s decided that at the moment Ms. Arslanian was not at fault for the motorcar crash and that Mr. Koop was jaywalking,” a police officer wrote in his report.
That’s a typical consequence in a number of circumstances, however the story solely will get sketchier from there. About half-hour after the so-called accident, a person claiming to be a retired police officer confirmed as much as assist Arslanian. In a recording on the scene, he might be heard saying, “I don’t even know her. That’s my buddy’s spouse who’s associates together with her. He mentioned might you do me a favor and take her up there, as a result of her buddy simply acquired in a automotive accident.” He later requested officers in the event that they deliberate to get prosecutors concerned, they usually responded saying they deliberate to launch her.
Contemplating how widespread it’s for prosecutors to say no to cost drivers who kill pedestrians with their automotive, it’s unlikely we’ll ever know whether or not Menendez and his associates pressured regulation enforcement to let her go. However contemplating the opposite fees and his historical past, on the very least, it sounds sketchy as hell.
The crash additionally left Arslanian with no automotive. As a substitute of merely shopping for or leasing a brand new one, court docket papers reportedly allege that she texted Wael Hana, a longtime buddy and Egyptian-American businessman who has additionally been charged together with the Menendezes complaining that she didn’t have a automotive. Not lengthy after that, prosecutors say Menendez and Jose Uribe, an in depth affiliate of Hana, struck a deal — Menendez would strain the New Jersey legal professional basic’s workplace to let one in all Uribe’s associates off the hook, and in alternate, Uribe would give her a brand new automotive.
In a textual content message obtained by prosecutors, Arslanian informed Hana, “All is GREAT! I’m so excited to get a automotive subsequent week. !!” By April, she had it. A Mercedes-Benz C 300 Convertible reportedly valued at $60,000. Not an S-Class and even an E-Class Convertible. “Congratulations mon amour de la vie,” she texted her now-husband. “We’re the proud house owners of a 2019 Mercedes.”
Based mostly on the proof that’s out there, it’s fully attainable that Arslanian didn’t do something mistaken when she killed Koop. However to then flip round and allegedly use Menendez’s corrupt affect to improve to a nicer, new Mercedes is simply darkish.
The New York Instances has much more particulars on the crash, so in case you can, you’ll want to head over there and skim the entire thing.