Gold bars, wads of cash and halal meat: The case against Bob Menendez explained

Sometime in 2022, federal prosecutors in Manhattan ramped up a corruption investigation into three-term, New Jersey Senator Robert “Bob” Menendez who was also chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

The investigation into Mr Menendez had roots in a separate criminal inquiry into a fledgling halal meat-certifying company that went from starting production, with no prior experience, to having a lucrative, exclusive deal with the Egyptian government in a matter of months.

The president of the halal meat start-up, a New Jersey businessman named Wael Hana, had seemingly given Mr Menendez and his wife, Nadine Menendez, lavish gifts in exchange for helping him secure the deal.

It marks the second criminal corruption investigation the senator has faced during his tenure – and one that he quickly brushed off as a “politically-motivated smear campaign”.

But prosecutors soon learned that the potentially lavish gifts that Mr Menendez accepted went much further than helping Mr Hana secure a deal. Another investor in the company, businessman Fred Daibes, had allegedly used Mr Menendez to help him secure funding for his residential skyscraper development project, and landed an investment from a Qatari royal family member.

On a Thursday morning in June 2022, federal investigators descended on the Menendez’s New Jersey home and made a stunning discovery: 13 gold bars worth over $100,000; a Mercedes-Benz convertible; and more than $480,000 in cash stuffed into envelopes and hidden in coats, jackets and boots.

Fifteen months later, Mr Menendez, his wife and the two businessmen found themselves at the center of an indictment accusing them of brazenly engaging in a bribery scheme and attempting to obstruct justice. Mr Menendez