Menendez took huge contributions from family of ex-attorney general he sought to influence

Among the people on a 2019 trip to India with Bob Menendez when he proposed to Nadine Arslanian in front of the Taj Mahal was Dr. Balpreet Grewal-Virk, an influential North Jersey Democrat and a close friend of the senior U.S. Senator from New Jersey.

A video of the Menendez proposal shows Grewal-Virk, the vice chair of the Bergen County Democratic Organization,  an active fundraiser, and the New Jersey Commissioner and Co-Chair of the Gateway cross-Hudson tunnel and bridge project, standing next to the couple.

Grewal-Virk is also the cousin of Gurbir Grewal, who was serving as New Jersey’s attorney general at the time.  Friends describe the relationship between Grewal-Virk and Grewal as “very close.”

Two months before the trip to India, Menendez called Gurbir Grewal to influence the prosecution of Jose Uribe, a businessman, allegedly in exchange for the purchase of a $60,000 Mercedes convertible for the senator’s wife, Nadine.

The indictment charging Menendez with bribery and conspiracy alleges that Menendez spoke with Grewal, who is mentioned as “Official-2.”

The Grewal family made some campaign contributions in the past but did not become politically active until after Gurbir Grewal became the Bergen County Prosecutor in 2016.

Balpreet Grewal-Virk and her husband, Yogi, contributed $19,900 to Menendez’s campaign and political action committee.  They’ve also donated more than $33,000 to other Democrats.  Additional Grewal family members have given Menendez’s campaign and PAC an additional $18,000.

Friends of Grewal-Virk say she and her husband socialized with Bob and Nadine Menendez and that the two couples traveled together.

Multiple sources confirmed that Gurbir Grewal had aggressively sought to position himself for a high-level federal government post if Democrats took the White House in 2020, pushing for the position of Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights.  He left the attorney general’s office in 2021 to become director of enforcement for the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Grewal, several sources said, believed Menendez could be helpful to him.  (Menendez was the chairman of the Securities, Insurance, and Investment Subcommittee of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, which had jurisdiction over the SEC.)

Grewal’s political ambitions and the close friendship his cousin had with Menendez might explain why the Democratic U.S. Senator felt comfortable calling the attorney general to help Uribe.

The first contact, apparently at the urging of Nadine Menendez, was by phone in January 2019.

According to the indictment, Grewal considered Menendez’s actions “inappropriate and did not agree to intervene.”

“After being contacted by Menendez, to avoid any potential inappropriate influence in the case, Official-2 (Grewal) did not share with the prosecution team that Menendez had contacted him about the matter, and did not intervene in the matter,” prosecutors claim.

But Grewal also didn’t report the call to the line prosecutors, the Justice Department alleged.

After a dinner with Menendez and his wife, Wael Hanna, the North Jersey businessman who allegedly received a lucrative exclusive contract from the Egyptian government to inspect Halal meat with Menendez’s health, sent Nadine Menendez a series of text messages with details about Uribe’s prosecution, prosecutors allege.

About two days later, Menendez “requested and received multiple text messages” from his wife about Uribe, which Nadine Menendez “requested and received from Hana.”

Menendez met with Grewal in his Newark Senate office around September 6, 2019, and “through advice and pressure, to cause (Grewal) to favorably resolve the investigation.”

Uribe ultimately pled guilty to the charges filed by the state after the attorney general’s office entered into a plea agreement that recommended no jail time.

“This resolution was more favorable for the New Jersey Defendant than the prosecutors’ initial plea offer earlier in the case,” the indictment stated.

Grewal-Virk did not immediately respond to a call to her cell phone.

Menendez proposed to his future wife in October 2019 while on a congressional delegation trip to India paid for by the U.S. government.  It’s not clear who paid for Menendez’s future wife, Nadine, or for Grewal-Virk and her husband.

Attorney General Matt Platkin announced that his office would probe the details of Grewal’s actions.