More has been uncovered as a result of the federal corruption charges against Senator Bob Menendez. The Wife of Senator Menendez was involved in a fatal crash in 2018 though it was apparently concealed until investigative reporters delved into the recently unsealed federal indictment against the couple.
In 2018, his wife, Nadine Menendez, accidentally killed a man when she struck him with her car. In the Bogota police report, Richard Koop was hit by Nadine Menendez’ Mercedes-Benz, which resulted in his death. Following the hit, she was never tested for drugs or alcohol as she was not exhibiting symptoms of impairment. Forty-nine year old Koop was jaywalking when hit, and the impact of the vehicle resulted in his tragic death. Nadine was let go at the scene of the accident after being interviewed for nearly a half hour.
Her accident is tied into the recently released indictment, as a new car was part of the bribe for her husband’s influence. Earlier this month, the indictment of Menendez, his wife, and three New jersey businessmen, Wael Hana, Jose Uribe, and Fred Daibes, was released saying, “Senator Menendez agreed and sought to pressure a senior official at the U.S. Department of Agriculture in an effort to protect a business monopoly granted to Hana by Egypt, disrupt a criminal case undertaken by the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office related to associates of Uribe, and disrupt a federal criminal prosecution brought by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey against Daibes”.
The indictment alleges that in an attempt to secure a new car for his then-girlfriend, Senator Menendez agreed to bribes from Hana, Uribe, and Daibes. Specifically, he allegedly agreed to obstruct a criminal investigation involving an associate in exchange for a Mercedes-Benz C-300 convertible valued at $60,000.
Both Menendez and his wife have been accused of receiving bribes in various forms, including cash and gold bars, in exchange for favors. They have both entered pleas of not guilty. Despite calls from fellow senators and prominent New Jersey Democrats to step down, Menendez has refused to resign from his position.
