Did the FBI Steal Their Gold?
Looks like the government and corrupt officials both want gold, gold, gold!
“We are devaluing American money so rapidly that in America today, you can’t even bribe Democrat senators with cash alone. You need to bring gold bars to get the job done just so the bribes hold value.”
Rep. Matt Gaetz
He’s always looked to us like a sketchy guy. New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez. Very sketchy. And his indictment this month on federal bribery charges is not his first go-round in the world of bribery charges. He was indicted on corruption charges in 2015, but a hung jury let him walk. We remember that there was another case of him pulling strings for a banking crony. And there were other stories about him cavorting with underage hookers in the Dominican Republic.
This time it involves a $300 million aid package for Egypt. Call us cynical, but we’re not surprised to see that US foreign policy is up for sale. Hunter Biden, anyone?
Like we said, sketchy.
Now you don’t have to be sketchy or take brides to want to keep your financial affairs private. This is, after all, the age of identity theft and of financial records being hacked by bad guys far and wide. But the Menedez story reminds us that when you are trying to keep your financial affairs private, gold is a good way to go. Most self-respecting bribers and on-the-take politicians probably know a little something about the anonymity of gold.
In this case, prosecutors are alleging Menedez took bribes for influence peddling, bribes that included kilo gold bars, cash, home mortgage payments, compensation for a “low-or-no-show job” and a luxury vehicle.
Perhaps Menedez should have stuck with the gold. When others pay for your mortgage or provide you a luxury vehicle, it tends to leave a paper trail.
Menendez explained that the $480,000 in cash found in his closet was for “emergencies.” But he appears not to have said anything about the gold bars and his Google searches checking in on their worth.
The US Attorney for the Southern District of New York issued the following statement about the case:
As the grand jury charged, between 2018 and 2022, Senator Menendez and his wife engaged in a corrupt relationship with Wael Hana, Jose Uribe, and Fred Daibes – three New Jersey businessmen who collectively paid hundreds of thousands of dollars of bribes, including cash, gold, a Mercedes Benz, and other things of value – in exchange for Senator Menendez agreeing to use his power and influence to protect and enrich those businessmen and to benefit the Government of Egypt.
More from the press release:
MENENDEZ provided sensitive, non-public U.S. government information to Egyptian officials and otherwise took steps to secretly aid the Government of Egypt. For example, in or about May 2018, MENENDEZ provided Egyptian officials with non-public information regarding the number and nationality of persons serving at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, Egypt. Although this information was not classified, it was deemed highly sensitive because it could pose significant operational security concerns if disclosed to a foreign government or made public. Without telling his professional staff or the State Department that he was doing so, on or about May 7, 2018, MENENDEZ texted that sensitive, non-public embassy information to his then-girlfriend NADINE MENENDEZ, who forwarded the message to HANA, who forwarded it to an Egyptian government official. Later that same month, MENENDEZ ghost-wrote a letter on behalf of Egypt to other U.S. Senators advocating for them to release a hold on $300 million in aid to Egypt. MENENDEZ sent this ghost-written letter to NADINE MENENDEZ, who forwarded it to HANA, who sent it to Egyptian officials.
That’s all about Menendez for now. But one more story that is sort of related. Victims of an FBI raid on a private non-bank depository institution in Beverly Hills are complaining that the FBI stole their money and their gold.
Here’s the story from Fox News:
Two Americans are alleging the FBI lost or stole their property after seizing it through a “shady” process.
“All we know is that their property was in a box and safe before the FBI broke into the box,” Joe Gay, an attorney with the nonprofit law firm Institute for Justice, told Fox News. “Once the FBI broke into the box, we honestly don’t know exactly what happened.”
“We don’t know if they lost it. We don’t know if somebody pocketed it and walked away,” he continued….
The Institute for Justice filed two lawsuits Friday on behalf of clients who had property seized from their safety deposit boxes in a March 2021 FBI raid on U.S. Private Vaults, a Beverly Hills–based company. After prevailing in court, and the FBI agreeing to return their property, both Don Mellein and Jeni Pearsons discovered some of their property was missing and suspect the FBI’s haphazard raid or sticky fingers are to blame.
“There’s literally been no explanation,” Pearsons said. “I think you have to assume that it’s the simplest explanation, and I think, unfortunately, the simplest explanation is they took it or lost it….”
After the FBI seized their property along with 1,400 other customers, Mellein and Pearsons received a notice stating the FBI wanted to keep their property through a process known as civil forfeiture.
A lot of people have been complaining with apparent cause that the FBI – at least at the top policy level of the institution – has become somewhat sketchy itself. We do know that civil asset forfeiture is fat with abuse.
We also know from the evidence of history that governments are often eager to steal the peoples’ wealth. That’s why we suggest you don’t leave it around to be taken, whether it be in the planned and forthcoming central bank digital currency, or in financial institutions.
To learn more about financial privacy and gold, speak with a Republic Monetary Exchange gold and silver specialist.