A businessman told police that he was the victim of a robbery in 2013 and asked them to recover the 22 stolen gold bars. Four bars were found a decade later in Menendez's home.

At least four gold bars found in the FBI search of Sen. Bob Menendez’s home had been directly linked to a New Jersey businessman now accused of bribing Menendez, the state’s senior senator, Bergen County prosecutor’s records from a 2013 robbery case show.

The businessman, Fred Daibes, reported to police that he was the victim of an armed robbery in 2013, and he asked police to recover the gold bars stolen from him. Daibes reported that $500,000 in cash and 22 gold bars were stolen, Edgewater, New Jersey, police records show. Police later caught four people with the stolen goods.

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A decade later, it said, the FBI found four gold bars with unique serial numbers in the Clifton, New Jersey, home of Menendez and his wife, Nadine.

  • Heresy_generator@kbin.social
    1351·
    1 year ago

    Stupid headline. Literally everyone who reads it is going to think the gold bars in Menendez’ possession were stolen property, but they’re not and that’s not the point of the story at all.

    TL;DR: In 2013 thieves stole 22 gold bars from the guy that bribed Menendez. Because he’s rich, the cops actually solved the crime and returned the property and, here’s the actual important bit: Fred Daibes, the guy that bribed Menendez, signed a release form specifying that the stamped, numbered gold bars were his. Now Menendez has some of them and that provenance makes it a lot easier to show where he got them.

    • Overzeetop@kbin.social
      22·
      1 year ago

      You know, even if they were stolen I think my outrage meter would not have moved. Our representatives should be held to a higher standard than the average person when it comes to gifts/conflicts of interest, and any kind of (accepted) preferential treatment should be grounds for expulsion.