Bob Menendez’s love triangle: Party-loving wife two-timed it with R. Kelly’s lawyer
http://nypost.com/2023/09/28/menendezs-love-triangle-gold-bar-bob-set-cops-on-rival/
By Isabel Vincent
The New York Post
September 28, 2023
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Bob Menendez’s wife partied with Mob Wives and Real Housewives, then two-timed her attorney boyfriend to become the senator’s lover, The Post can reveal.
And during their tumultuous courtship, the New Jersey Democrat sent Capitol Police officers to his love rival’s office to “bully him out of the picture,” a friend of the attorney — who represented R. Kelly during his sex-trafficking trial — told The Post.
Nadine Arslanian Menendez is facing up to 45 years in prison, accused of conspiring with her husband to commit fraud, bribery and extortion by selling the power of his office to the Egyptian government and three businessmen in exchange for a convertible Mercedes, gold bars and cash he stashed in his jackets.
She and Menendez pleaded not guilty in federal court in Manhattan on Wednesday, with Arslanian bringing a $2,300 quilted Chanel bag for their first joint court appearance.
“I’m just heartsick about her,” said a woman who identified herself as a close relative. “I’ve been crying all day. She is an upstanding person. Nothing in her life prepared her for this.”
Sen. Bob Menendez and his wife, Nadine Arslanian, told the world in the New York Times they had a whirlwind romance beginning in December 2018. - Getty Images
Nadine Arslanian (left) parties with “The Real Housewives of New Jersey” cast members Jacqueline Laurita, Kim “Kim D.” DePaola and Carolina Manza. -
Nadine Arslanian/Facebook
Nadine Arslanian with Karen Gravano, daughter of Salvatore “Sammy the Bull” Gravano and a star of “Mob Wives” and (right) former mobster John Alite at a nightclub in 2015. - New York Post
Marriage to a senator should have been the culmination of an American dream for Arslanian, who was born in 1967 in Beirut, Lebanon, in a wealthy Armenian household.
She and sister Katia each had their own governess, a family friend told The Post.
But when the country descended into civil war in 1975, the family fled first to Greece and then to London and Palo Alto, Calif., then settled on a leafy suburban street in Nassau County, where her parents, Garbis and Ida Tabourian, were staunch supporters of the Armenian community.
Menendez walked into federal court Wednesday hand-in-hand with his wife and co-indictee, Nadine Arslanian. Their courtship was far more tumultuous than he had spoken about publicly, including a love triangle and a call to the police. - AFP via Getty Images
Arslanian attended New York University, graduating with undergraduate and master’s degrees in international politics and French history, then married New Jersey developer Raffi Arslanian and had two children.
They bought a modest home in Englewood Cliffs, with plans to tear it down.
“They wanted to build their dream home, but the whole thing fell apart,” attorney Douglas Anton told The Post.
He started dating Arslanian in 2011 and did some legal work for her.
He also represented R. Kelly at the trial that ended with the star’s conviction for sex-trafficking.
Kelly was jailed for 30 years.
In March 2018, Menendez was photographed with his new girlfriend, Arslanian, and Egyptian American businessman Wael “Will” Hana. But she was also dating attorney Doug Norton at the time. - New York Post
Nadine Arslanian was dating lawyer Doug Anton at the same time that she started dating Menendez, Anton said. They had a night out in May 2018, months after Anton told The Post that Menendez revealed his love for her. - New York Post
After the couple divorced in 2005, Arslanian struggled to raise daughter Sabine and son Andre.
The children studied at the elite Lycée Français in Manhattan, where tuition tops $46,000 a year — and she would take them to a Union City IHOP on the commute.
Sure doesn't sound like she was "struggling" all that much to me. Must have been getting top dollar for selling her p***y to the highest bidder, eh?
That was how she met Menendez, at the IHOP in 2008 — not December 2018, as he claimed in an interview with the New York Times in 2021 — said Anton.
The owner of the restaurant introduced her to the senator, he said.
“They maintained a friendship,” said Anton. “She used to call him every year on his birthday. Sometimes he invited her for lunch if he was doing an event in New Jersey and she would go with one of her girlfriends.”
Ah, "they maintained a friendship," eh? I see ... regular booty calls ... and just for kicks, sometimes she would bring along one of her girlfriends to tag-team Bob between the sheets. Got it. "Tag team Bob Menendez between the sheets" ... YUCK ... that's a mental image everyone could do without!
Nadine Arslanian with her children, Sabine and Andre. Friends say that despite struggling to pay her bills for years, Arslanian had a taste for the high life. - Nadine Arslanian/Facebook
Garbis and Ida Tabourian, Arslanian’s parents, who were forced to flee Beirut after the beginning of the civil war in 1975. - Facebook
A decade-long friendship is the opposite of the account Arslanian and Menendez gave to the Times’ “Vows” column in which she claimed that they met in December 2018 and she had no idea who he was.
“We were introduced by the owner of the IHOP, and I didn’t know at that time that Bob was a senator,” Arslanian said in 2021. “He was very intelligent and had a great sense of humor, and he was very, very hot.”
While keeping up a friendship with Menendez, Arslanian enjoyed partying with the stars of “The Real Housewives of New Jersey,” including Jacqueline Laurita, at venues including Kim “Kim D.” DePaola’s boutique Posche in Allendale, NJ.
Another party night was with Brittany Fogarty - daughter of convicted mobster John Fogarty - and her mom, Andrea Giovino, both stars of “Mob Wives.”
Nadine Arslanian/Facebook
Arslanian poses with Kim DePaola from “The Real Housewives of New Jersey” at the soft opening at the Englewood Cliffs outpost of American Cut, run by celebrity chef Marc Forgione (third from right). - Nadine Arslanian/Facebook
She also socialized with “Mob Wives” stars Karen Gravano (daughter of Salvatore “Sammy the Bull” Gravano) and Brittany Fogarty — daughter of convicted mobster John Fogarty — and her mom, Andrea Giovino, once nicknamed the “real-life Carmela Soprano.”
And she hung out with “Iron Chef” star Marc Forgione at the now-closed Englewood Cliffs branch of his American Cut steakhouses and enjoyed nights out at upscale Manhattan restaurant Boulud Sud.
Another friend was former Gambino family enforcer-turned-celebrity author John Alite, who testified against mobster John Gotti in 2008 and has written several books about his time in the underworld.
“She’s a goodhearted woman, but she was having a hard time financially,” Alite told The Post Wednesday. “We were friends. She used to help me pick out gifts for my girlfriends.”
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Love rival Doug Anton, who sang Bon Jovi’s “Always” with Arslanian on Christmas Eve 2017, tells The Post that she started dating both him and Menendez soon after, and that police became involved. - New York Post
Financially pressed, Arslanian moved daughter Sabine and son Andre from the Lycée to public schools closer to the family’s home.
“It was a great little family, really tight-knit,” said Michael Mathews, who used to date Sabine, whom he met when they both attended Cresskill High School. “Nadine was a sweetheart and a very caring mother who did everything she could for her kids, even though she barely had enough to get by.”
Mathews, who used to work as a paralegal in Anton’s New Jersey law office, said he sometimes helped out by picking up Arslanian’s kids from school.
“Sometimes she only had $20, and gave it to me for gas so that I could pick them up, ” he said. “She had a horrible financial situation and had to do odd jobs. She sometimes helped a friend who was a hairstylist.”
Anton and Arslanian were guests at a restaurant opening in Englewood Cliffs in April 2016. - Jeremy Smith / imageSPACE
Arslanian with Anton and her daughter, Sabine, in 2016. Anton’s friend said Menendez tried to “bully” him out of the picture by dispatching Capitol Police officers to his New Jersey office. - New York Post
Despite her financial troubles, she kept up her relationship with Anton, and on Christmas Eve in 2017, the couple lovingly sang Bon Jovi’s “Always” together.
But a few days later, on January 1, 2018, she picked up the phone to wish her friend Sen. Menendez a happy 64th birthday — and her life changed.
Menendez was fresh from his bribery trial ending in a hung jury, and at the time was expecting to be retried.
The Department of Justice dropped the charges after the Supreme Court narrowed the definition of bribing a public official.
Menendez told Arslanian about his love for her after his first trial on corruption charges ended in a hung jury. Among the charges were using his office to obtain a visa for Ukrainian actress and model Svitlana Buchyk (above). - PAUL COBO
Another of the women Menendez was accused of obtaining visas for was Juliana Lopes Leite. He was not convicted, and the Justice Department dropped the charges before a retrial. - © juliana_leite_us / Instagram
Wow ... pudgy lil' Bob got around! Look at you, Bob - punching WAY, WAY above your weight class, dude!
Menendez asked if she was still dating “that Doug lawyer,” and told her that he had been in love with her since 2008, said Anton.
For the next several months, Arslanian dated both men “on and off,” Anton told The Post, adding that the situation was fraught with tension and jealousy.
At one point, in May 2018, Menendez dispatched two Capitol Police officers to Anton’s office in Hackensack, Anton said. “As soon as they left, I had my security team sweep the building,” he said.
A friend added: “He wanted to bully Doug out of the picture.”
Arslanian was carrying a $2,300 quilted Chanel bag when she arrived at court Wednesday with Menendez for both to plead not guilty to corruption charges that could put them behind bars for 45 years. - AFP via Getty Images
Woof! I bet dollars to donuts that Nadine Arslanian desperately wishes she had chosen Anton over Menendez, right about now!
Menendez and Arslanian now share the Englewood Cliffs home which she came close to losing. It was where the FBI found cash and gold bars in a raid last year. - Christopher Sadowski
A spokesperson for Capitol Police refused to comment Thursday, and Anton told The Post that nothing ever came of the visit from the police.
Arslanian was broke and facing foreclosure on her Bergen County home at the time, but she had a weakness for designer outfits and a taste for the high life.
Prosecutors said she was unemployed.
“She was in this fancy Cinderella role when she started dating Menendez,” a friend said.
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What we know about Bob Menendez's indictment
New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez is facing federal corruption charges related to an alleged years-long scheme.
Menendez allegedly accepted bribes, including gold bars, in exchange for helping three businessmen, Wael Hana, Jose Uribe and Fred Daibes, and the country of Egypt, according to officials.
Menendez and his wife, Nadine, were charged with taking hundreds of thousands in bribes, according to a Manhattan federal indictment.
When the feds raided Menendez’s Englewood Cliffs home in June 2022, they found a 2019 Mercedes C-Class, at least 13 gold bars, and $566,000 in cash “stuffed in envelopes.” Another $70,000 in cash was found in Nadine’s safe deposit box.
Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and his wife, Nadine Menendez, were indicted on federal corruption charges. - AP
The feds say Menendez also received mortgage payments and paid for a low-show or no-show job and home furnishings.
This isn’t the first time the 69-year-old Democrat is facing federal corruption charges. In 2015, Menendez was accused of taking gifts from Florida eye surgeon Salomon Melgen.
The “gifts” included a Paris vacation, flights on a private jet, and vacations at Melgen’s villa in the Dominican Republic.
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Arslanian appears to have been drawn to Menendez’s power and access to the high life.
During their romance, Menendez invited the statuesque blonde to high-level meetings with dignitaries, and even offered to help her with a job, friends told The Post.
Although friends warned Arslanian against dating the senator, she seemed giddy with excitement, they said.
During their whirlwind romance, Sen. Menendez invited Arslanian to meetings with dignitaries at his Senate office. Wael Hana — who is also charged in the federal bribery scheme — stands at left. - New York Post
Menendez and Arslanian pose with her two children, Andre and Sabine. A friend said she could no longer afford to send them to an elite private school after her divorce from her first husband. - Nadine Arslanian / Armenian Report
“He sold her a dream,” said Alite. “I told her, ‘Nadine, this guy’s … not for you.’ He really manipulated her. She thought she was going to marry Doug, but Menendez wooed her away. He manipulated her; he made her feel important. He was promising her the world.”
For Arslanian, who was facing foreclosure on her Englewood Cliffs property, the prospect of being the senator’s girlfriend seemed too good to be true.
Soon she started traveling with Menendez on trips to Puerto Rico, Turks and Caicos, as well as Colombia and Greece.
“She did like high-end things,” said Mathews. “She cared about materialistic things, and in many ways was a very gullible person, especially if someone had money and power.”
Good grief ... BECAUSE SHE WAS A SHAMELESS GOLD DIGGER!
Federal prosecutors claim that Arslanian received a Mercedes convertible as part of the bribery scheme. - U.S. Attorney's Office
Menendez wooed her in other ways.
He worked hard to convince the US Senate to adopt a resolution recognizing the Armenian genocide — an issue that was of paramount importance to her family, especially her father, now 93.
Arslanian told the Armenian Report podcast that 13 “immediate members” of her family were killed in the 1915 genocide.
“It’s very hard when I think about what they went through,” Arslanian said. “My paternal grandfather’s dream was to have the world recognize what we went through.”
Federal authorities seized gold bars and nearly $500,000 in cash during a raid at the couple’s home in Englewood Cliffs, NJ, last year. - AP
Prosecutors seized $150,000 worth of gold bars last summer after a raid on the couple’s Bergen County home last year. - U.S. Attorney's Office
On Dec. 12, 2019, Menendez announced that the resolution had passed the Senate and choked up when he made the televised announcement.
He texted Arslanian, by then his fiancée, that afternoon: “Truth, perseverance and a commitment to a cause greater than yourself, in honor of your family, and all who suffered, I hope your father was watching,” read the text that Arslanian shared on the podcast. He added “Never Forget” in Armenian script.
“He is very, very caring, almost to a fault,” Arslanian said about Menendez on the podcast. “Whatever he does, I support him.”
Menendez proposed to Arslanian in front of the Taj Mahal on an official trip to India in 2019.
This was the text Menendez sent Arslanian when the Senate passed a resolution recognizing the Armenian genocide. In Armenian, he wrote: “Never forget.” - Nadine Arslanian / Armenian Report
He sang “Never Enough” from “The Greatest Showman” before presenting her with a ring.
The couple married in an Armenian church in Bayside, Queens, in October 2020.
In an interview with the New York Times’ “Vows” column, he claimed they had only met in December 2019, long after photographs show them together.
Now friends fear that the senator may throw his wife under the bus to save his career.
Menendez serenaded his then-girlfriend Nadine Arslanian in front of the Taj Mahal when he proposed in 2019. The couple claimed it was on Princess Diana’s bench, although it was actually on a different bench. - Robert&Nadine/YouTube
“She’s a victim,” said Alite. “Trust me 110 percent, this guy manipulated the s–t out of her. He used her and manipulated her. As a senator, he’s a half-a–ed gangster.”
Attorneys representing both Arslanian and Menendez did not return requests for comment.
The essential American soul is hard, isolate, stoic, and a killer. It has never yet melted. ~ D.H. Lawrence
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