Retired New Jersey cop assists Bob Menendez's wife after car accident

author: FutureCar Staff    

A top New Jersey police officer rushed to the scene of a fatal crash involving Bob Menendez's wife, Nadine Arslanian, in 2018. The officer questioned the patrolmen on site and ensured that Arslanian was not subjected to a sobriety test or required to hand over her phone. Arslanian fatally struck Richard Koop with her Mercedes in Bogota, New Jersey on December 12, 2018. At the time, she was dating Senator Bob Menendez, although they were not yet married. Both Menendez and Arslanian are now facing charges of felony bribery and corruption.

After the crash, the Bogota Police interrogated Arslanian, who 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 ex-chief of detectives in the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office, rushed to assist Arslanian after the accident. Although Mordaga was not seen on camera, his voice was recorded in the background of dashcam footage from the crash scene.

Mordaga, who is also linked to organized crime and mob families, asked the patrolmen if they had taken a statement from Arslanian. He explained that he was there because she was a friend of his buddy's wife, who had been involved in another car accident. Mordaga inquired about whether the patrolmen were planning to provide a statement to the prosecutor's office.

Despite the circumstances, the police allowed Arslanian to leave the scene without conducting a sobriety test or obtaining her phone records. She was never charged in relation to the crash and was later gifted a new Mercedes to replace the damaged vehicle.

Mordaga retired in 2016 and has been previously accused of outing a member of the Lucchese family, who was later shot outside a diner he owned. In the aftermath of the crash, Arslanian texted Wael Hana, an Egyptian American businessman involved in the bribery scheme, expressing her need for a car. Hana subsequently arranged to buy Arslanian a Mercedes, which was later registered in March 2019.

Prosecutors allege that Hana and another defendant, Jose Uribe, provided Arslanian with $15,000 in cash as a down payment for the new Mercedes and also covered the monthly financing payments. Arslanian thanked Uribe for his assistance in a text message, indicating her gratitude.

The federal indictment suggests that Menendez attempted to interfere in a New Jersey criminal investigation in exchange for the Mercedes. The charges against Menendez and his wife stem from bribery and extortion allegations involving the Egyptian government.

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

FutureCar Staff