Fred Daibes, the man convicted of bribing Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) with gold bars and cash, is expected to plead guilty in federal court in Newark on Thursday to separate bank fraud charges, his attorney Larry Lustberg tells News 4.
New Jersey developer Daibes and Sen. Menendez were convicted in July as part of a wide-ranging bribery scheme, a bribery case that was prosecuted in New York’s Southern District.
One part of the bribery scheme was an attempt by Daibes to pay Menendez cash and gold bars and in exchange – prosecutors said Menendez tried to use his power to interfere with the New Jersey U.S. Attorney and that office’s separate bank fraud case against Daibes.
Daibes was originally offered probation in the N.J. bank fraud case that had 16 separate criminal counts. Justice Department officials say the Senator’s attempts to improperly impact the outcome of that bank fraud case played no role in the decision by federal prosecutors to offer Daibes probation for bank fraud.
After the separate ‘gold bar’ bribery indictment was announced in New York, New Jersey Judge Susan Wigenton threw out the original Daibes bank fraud plea deal – and DOJ’s proposed sentence of probation – in Oct. 2023.
Tomorrow, it is expected to have a new bank fraud plea – and a possibly a new sentencing recommendation by DOJ – to the bank fraud charges.
Menendez and Daibes are scheduled to be sentenced in New York on Oct. 29 for their bribery convictions.
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