From Greatest Showman to Gold Bars: Inside Bob Menendez’s whirlwind romance with wife Nadine – from singing Never Enough at a Taj Mahal proposal to a ‘bribery scheme involving piles of cash and the Egyptian military’

The romance of now-indicted lovebirds Senator Bob Menendez and Nadine Arslanian first blossomed over pancakes at a humble IHOP in Union City, New Jersey after the owner introduced the pair. 

‘I didn’t know at that time that Bob was a senator,’ Lebanon-born Arslanian, 58, later told the New York Times of Menendez, 69. ‘He was very intelligent and had a great sense of humor, and he was very, very hot.’ 

The Democratic senator described Arslanian as ‘beautiful and bright and had such a great personality. There was just this aura about her.’

His new love had graduated from New York University with a masters degree in French language and civilization, and as knowledegable about fashion. 

It was the start of a fast and furious relationship: they traveled the world together, visiting four continents in five months before Menendez proposed in India in October 2019. 

The senator, who has a penchant for music, began singing ‘Never Enough’ from the movie ‘The Greatest Showman’ while the pair were sitting on a park bench outside the Taj Mahal. Arslanian immediately knew it was a proposal and began to cry. 

The story of now-indicted lovebirds Senator Bob Menendez and Nadine Arslanian had humble beginnings over pancakes at a Union City, New Jersey IHOP where the owner had introduced the pair

‘I didn’t know at that time that Bob was a senator,’ the Lebanon-born Arslanian, 58, told the New York Times of Menendez, 69. ‘He was very intelligent and had a great sense of humor, and he was very, very hot’ 

The couple were riding high at the time after the senator avoided a federal bribery conviction in 2019 due to a hung jury.  

A year later, on October 3, 2020. they were married at a ceremony in Queens, New York – surrounded by influential friends including the head of New Jersey’s largest healthcare system and the soon-to-be U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey.

They went on to move in rarefied circles, attending two state dinners at the White House. 

It was a second marriage for both, and each has children with their exes. The senator’s son, 38-year-old Rob Menendez, serves in the House. 

Arslanian had not worked outside of the home while raising her children and struggled financially after her divorce in 2005. But by the time she met Menendez she had started her own international business consulting company.

Menendez, meanwhile, has been in politics for the entirety of his adult life – beginning at a New Jersey school board at age 20.  

A grand jury has now alleged that the couple took on a pay-to-play scheme that financed a lavish lifestyle – accepting cash, gold and luxury gifts in exchange for influence over the senator’s work. 

Menendez described Arslanian as ‘beautiful and bright and had such a great personality. There was just this aura about her’

Menendez and Arslanian have been indicted on bribery charges 

The indictment claims the couple had an improper relationship with three New Jersey businessmen: Wael Hana, Jose Uribe and Fred Daibes, who allegedly paid the couple in exchange for Menendez to use his influence in Washington D.C. to their benefit. 

A June 2022 raid on their home found ‘over $480,000 in cash – much of it stuffed into envelopes and hidden in clothing, closets, and a safe,’ the indictment notes, adding Nadine had over $70,000 in a safe deposit box. 

There were two one-kilogram gold bars and eleven one-ounce gold bars. 

According to the indictment Menendez and his wife accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars of bribes in exchange for using the senator’s influence to protect and enrich the businessmen.

‘Those bribes included cash, gold, payments toward a home mortgage, compensation for a low-or-no-show job, a luxury vehicle, and other things of value,’ the indictment said.

It also charges the senator with providing ‘sensitive U.S. Government information and took other steps that secretly aided the Government of Egypt.’

Damian Williams, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, lays out the evidence against Democrat U.S. Senator Robert Menendez, from New Jersey and his wife Nadine

Prosecutors said Hana, who is originally from Egypt, arranged dinners and meetings between Menendez and Egyptian officials in 2018.

The officials pressed Menendez on the status of U.S. military aid and Hana put Nadine Menendez on his company’s payroll, prosecutors said.

At the time Egypt was one of the largest recipients of U.S. military aid, but the State Department had withheld $195 million and canceled an additional $65.7 million until the country could demonstrate improvements on human rights and democracy.

Menendez told Hana non-public information about the status of the aid, prosecutors said.

Hana then texted an Egyptian official: ‘The ban on small arms and ammunition to Egypt has been lifted.’

Prosecutors said Egypt’s government in 2019 granted one of Hana’s companies an exclusive license to export halal food from the U.S. to Egypt, despite lacking experience in halal certification.

Hana allegedly used the proceeds from those exports to fund the bribe payments, according to the indictment.

After the U.S. Department of Agriculture raised concerns about Hana’s monopoly with Egyptian officials, due to concerns over high costs to U.S. meat producers, Menendez asked a USDA official to let the company keep its status, prosecutors said.

Menendez has denied all the charges.

In a statement said prosecutors mischaracterized routine legislative work.

‘The excesses of these prosecutors is apparent,” Menendez said. “The facts are not as presented.’

A lawyer for Nadine Menendez said she denied wrongdoing and would ‘vigorously defend’ against the allegations in court.