WNBC-TV Report: Gold bars found in Menendez’s home match those owned by Daibes

In a bombshell report from WNBC-TV’s Jonathan Dienst, at least four gold bars that the FBI found while searching the home of U.S. Senator Bob Menendez had been owned by his accused briber, developer Fred Daibes.

According to Dienst, Daibes reported 22 gold bars as stolen during a 2013 armed robbery at his Edgewater penthouse.  After police apprehended the suspects, Daibes provided the Bergen County Prosecutor’s office with serial numbers of the stolen gold bars.  Four of them matched those in Menendez’s possession.

The federal indictment of Menendez alleges that he accepted payoffs from Daibes.

“All of this spells bad news for Senator Menendez because the chain of custody – it appears – is going to be really easy to prove up,” NBC legal analyst Danny Cevallas said, noting that the gift of gold bars is not enough to prove the bribery charge.   “Was there a quid pro quo? Was it in exchange for the senator’s official acts – or promises of the same?”

In addition to bribery and conspiracy charges, the Justice Department has also indicted the three-term senator for acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign government.

Menendez has not said if he will seek re-election next year despite calls for his resignation from top New Jersey Democrats and approval ratings in the single digits.  Rep. Andy Kim (D-Moorestown), First Lady Tammy Murphy, and former Newark school board member Lawrence Hamm are already seeking the Democratic nomination.

His son, Rep. Robert J. Menendez (D-Jersey City) is planning to endorse Murphy.

Click HERE to watch Dienst’s report.