When indicted Sen. Bob Menendez started dating his current wife, she disappeared for a week and was listed as a missing person by police because her other lover feared for her safety.
Nadine Arslanian left the lights on and the television blaring in her home in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, without her children knowing where she was. I learned this from an investigation by the Post.
And she left a “bizarre” typed note on the door for a man she was casually dating, her boyfriend told the Post.
She then secretly flew to the Dominican Republic for a week-long mission with New Jersey Democratic Sen. Menendez in the spring of 2018.
Mr. Arslanian, 57, and Mr. Menendez, 70, married in 2020 and are currently facing charges against the Egyptian and Qatari governments for selling their offices to a New Jersey businessman in exchange for cash, gold and cars. He is charged with conspiring to act as a secret agent.
Both men strongly deny the charges. Mr. Menendez will go on trial in federal court in Manhattan on May 13, and Mr. Arslanian will have a separate trial in July.
In the spring of 2018, Arslanian entered into a new relationship with a senator and continued an on-and-off relationship with lawyer Douglas Anton.
Mr. Anton stopped by his law office in Hackensack, N.J., one Thursday while Mr. Anton was assembling furniture, and the two agreed to meet later that evening at Mr. Anton’s home in Englewood Cliffs. he told the Post.
“I sent her an email and the text turned green instead of blue,” said Anton, a former lawyer for disgraced musician R. Kelly, who arrived at her home and opened the front door. He added that he became even more worried when he saw a note posted on the wall. .
“Dearest, I need some time to de-stress so I’m going to go see my girlfriend at the last minute. Please come back on Monday. I love you,” the note read. The note was typed, but Anton said he found it “weird.”
What we know about the indictment of Bob Menendez
New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez is facing federal corruption charges in connection with a years-long scheme.
Officials said Menendez allegedly accepted bribes, including gold bars, in return for aid to the Egyptian state and three businessmen, Wael Hana, Jose Uribe and Fred Dybes.
Menendez and his wife, Nadine, were charged with accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes, according to a Manhattan federal indictment.
When federal authorities searched Menendez’s Englewood Cliffs home in June 2022, they found a 2019 Mercedes C-Class, at least 13 gold bars and $566,000 in cash “stuffed in envelopes.” did. Additionally, $70,000 in cash was found in Nadine’s safe deposit box.
The Fed said Menendez also received mortgage payments and paid for missed or missed work and furniture.
This is not the first time the 69-year-old Democrat has faced federal corruption charges. In 2015, Menendez was accused of accepting gifts from Florida eye surgeon Salomon Melgen.
The “gifts” included a vacation to Paris, a flight on a private jet and a vacation at Melgen’s villa in the Dominican Republic.
Anton said he wasn’t too upset because he was dating someone else at the time, adding: “The idea of a weekend without Nadine was rather appealing.”
But when she didn’t return by Monday, he began to worry, he told the Post, adding that he called her sister, adult children and friends. ” Anton said her sister insisted she call the police.
“It wasn’t like her to do something like this and after a number of days, I went to the police,” he said.
“I filed a missing persons report, but I had to come to the house to see if someone had killed her and locked her in the closet.”
Police said they found lights on and televisions blaring in the living room and bedroom. northjersey.comciting records obtained from the Englewood Cliffs Police Department.
Anton said Arslanyan was found a few days later.
“On the flight back from the DR, she couldn’t get on the plane and had to seek a government test,” Anton told the Post.
“Then he [Menendez] I first learned that we were still “meeting” intermittently when he was in Washington, DC. She later said he was surprised and annoyed. ”
The couple was in Punta Cana, a seaside town in the Dominican Republic. The town is a short drive from Casa de Campo, a luxury resort where Menéndez often stayed with his former benefactor Salomon Melgen.
Menendez was indicted on corruption charges in 2015, along with a Palm Beach ophthalmologist. His trial resulted in a hung jury, and he and Mr. Melgen were acquitted of some of the bribery charges.
While on the plane, Arslanyan called police to let them know he was safe and asked them to send a message to Anton to stay away, NorthJersey.com reported.
Anton said she returned to the United States on Thursday, a week after she first “disappeared.”
“She finally landed and blew up my phone and immediately came to my house crying and explaining and apologizing,” Anton said.
“I asked her, ‘Why did you do that?'” Anton said. “I was hoping Bob would be incognito.”
When police returned to Arslanyan’s home for a second visit, they found her and Egyptian-American businessman Wael Hana, now one of her two co-defendants, Northjersey. .com reported.
He and another co-accused, Fred Dives, also pleaded not guilty. A third person, Jose Uribe, has pleaded guilty and is cooperating with prosecutors.
Lawyers for Mr. Arslanian and Mr. Menendez did not respond to requests for comment.
