The federal bribery trial of former U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez began last week during which jurors were presented with photographs showing more than $600,000 in cash and gold bars stashed in his cluttered New Jersey home.
The photos were taken inside the Garden State Democrat's Englewood Cliffs home during a June 2022 raid by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Special Agent Aristotelis Kougemitros testified last week about leading the raid on the veteran Democrat's home he shares with his wife, Nadine Menendez, the New York Post reported.
Nadine is also charged in the case, but will not go to trial until later this year as she receives treatment for breast cancer.
What did the FBI find in Menéndez's house?
Kougemitros revealed that agents had found 13 gold bars worth $150,000 and more than $480,000 in cash stacked in wardrobes, jackets and designer handbags.
Some of the thick wads of cash were stuffed inside a worn-out brown work boot.
The FBI agent testified that he had to call for help as they struggled to count $486,461 worth of bills by hand.
“I was ordered that if I confiscated the cash, I was to count it on the spot,” Kougemitros testified. “So I called for backup.”
The couple faces several charges of corruption and bribery, allegedly for pocketing gold, cash, a Mercedes convertible and other luxury gifts.
In return, according to prosecutors, Menendez, 70, used the power of his office to dole out favors to the governments of Egypt and Qatar and three New Jersey businessmen.
