NJ AG investigates police response to fatal crash involving Menendez's wife

author: FutureCar Staff    

The New Jersey Attorney General's Office has launched an investigation into the handling of a fatal car crash in 2018 involving Nadine Arslanian, the wife of Senator Bob Menendez. Arslanian struck Richard Koop in Bogota, New Jersey on December 12, 2018. At the time, she was dating Senator Menendez, but they were not yet married. Both Arslanian and Menendez are now facing charges of felony bribery and corruption.

Following the crash, the Bogota Police arrived at the scene to question Arslanian. She claimed that Koop had been jaywalking and had put himself in the path of her car. Michael Mordaga, a former director of Hackensack Police and an ex-chief of detectives in the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office, was also present at the scene.

Despite the circumstances, Arslanian was allowed to leave the scene without undergoing a sobriety test or providing her phone records. She was never charged, and later received a new convertible Mercedes to replace the damaged vehicle as a gift.

A recent report by The New York Times states that an inquiry has been initiated to investigate whether Arslanian was treated too leniently or hastily. Koop's family has long believed that the investigation into the crash was not thorough enough.

Dashcam footage from the crash scene shows Arslanian wearing a dress and fur coat while speaking with a police officer. Although Mordaga was not shown on camera, his voice can be heard in the background. He can be heard asking the patrolmen if they took a statement from Arslanian, explaining that she is a friend of his buddy's wife who was involved in a car accident.

Mordaga, who retired in 2016, has been previously linked to organized crime and mob families, including the Lucchese family. According to a lawsuit filed by the family of Frank Lugano, a member of the family who was shot in the head outside a diner, Mordaga was the one who exposed him as an informant.

According to federal charging documents, about a month after the crash, Arslanian texted Wael Hana, an Egyptian American businessman indicted in the bribery scheme, expressing her need for a new car.

Prosecutors allege that Hana and another defendant, Jose Uribe, provided Arslanian with $15,000 in cash as a down payment for a new Mercedes-Benz C-300 convertible, valued at $60,000, and also covered the monthly financing payments. The car was registered in March 2019. Arslanian thanked Uribe in a text message, stating that she would never forget his help.

Prosecutors claim that Menendez attempted to interfere in a New Jersey criminal investigation in exchange for the Mercedes. Menendez and his wife have pleaded not guilty to the federal charges, which involve bribery and extortion allegations related to the Egyptian government.

Despite calls from his fellow Democratic Party members to step down, Menendez has chosen to remain in office, although he temporarily stepped down as head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee after the charges were unsealed last month. Prosecutors allege that Menendez accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars between 2018 and 2022 from Hana, Uribe, and Fred Daibes in exchange for using his power and influence to benefit these businessmen and the Government of Egypt.

FutureCar Staff