The wife of New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez has told friends that she is convinced she will go to prison because she does not have enough money for legal representation, according to The Post.
Nadine Arslanian, the Democrat’s second wife, faces up to 45 years in jail if convicted of bribery and corruption charges when she goes on trial in July.
Her attorneys resigned from her case earlier this month after successfully deferring her trial until July due to “a serious medical condition,” leaving her without a defense team.
Multiple members of her social circle have informed The Post that Arslanian, a mother of two from her first marriage, is anticipating being convicted and imprisoned following her July trial due to her financial concerns.
Her husband, who lewdly dubbed her “Bubbles” because of her cleavage, has a legal defense fund that has already paid for an expert witness in his case and much of her legal bills, but she is concerned that it will not cover the final sum.
She will face a jury in federal court in Manhattan following her husband’s separate trial, which begins on May 6, and in which his lawyers claim he may “inculpate” his wife.
However, the pair is still married and lives together in their home in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.
After the FBI raided the $1.2 million residence and found stacks of cash and gold bars, they charged Menendez, Arslanian, and three New Jersey businessmen with a broad plot to sell his influence and covertly conspire to act as agents for the Egyptian and Qatari governments.
According to a federal indictment, the pair allegedly traded political favors for wealth and a Mercedes convertible.
Menendez, 70; Arslanian, 57; and two of their co-accused, Fred Daibes and Wael Hana, have fiercely disputed all charges, with one of the five, Jose Uribe, pleading guilty and agreeing to assist with federal prosecutors in Manhattan.
Menedez’s counsel revealed in a shocking secret filing on Tuesday that if he testifies in his own defense, his testimony might “inculpate Nadine.”
Kim De Paola, a former cast member of “The Real Housewives of New Jersey,” told The Post: “She has said that she thinks she is going to jail.”
De Paola knew Arslanian from parties and fashion displays for Posche by Kim D, De Paola’s now-defunct Allendale, NJ, boutique, and added that few people in their North Jersey social circle sympathize with the pair or are surprised that Menendez would blame his wife.
“Everyone despises Menendez,” stated De Paolo. “Respect is not due to a man who disregards his wife.”
“In New Jersey, males will protect their wives. He had no idea what was going on! It’s awful to throw a woman under the bus like that.
De Paola, the host of the “Get Real with Kim D” podcast and the author of an upcoming memoir, “My Life with the Big Boys,” said Arslanian was always looking for the “next best thing” in her romantic life.
She divorced her first spouse, Raffi Arslanian, in 2005 and then dated New Jersey lawyer Douglas Anton, who represented singer R. Kelly in his sex trafficking trial in 2021.
“When she used to come to my events, she had her boobs hanging to her knees,” De Paolo told me.
“We’d all look at her like, ‘What in the world?’ She was always attempting to be controversial. She’s just so tacky. And I believe that’s how she got the boys.
De Paola compared the couple to Depression-era criminals Bonnie and Clyde, claiming they are both infatuated with a luxury lifestyle.
“In life, when you put out these kinds of things when you are after the Louis Vuitton bag, things like this happen,” she went on to explain. “What do you expect?”
Danny Onorato, a Washington, DC, lawyer representing Arslanian, declined to comment on Thursday. Menendez’s lawyer, Robert Luskin, did not respond to a request for comment.
Arslanian was part of a love triangle with Anton and Menendez, as first reported by The Post.
De Paola claimed that Arslanian gushed about the senator, despite the fact that everyone knew she was dating Anton.
“I was sitting in my salon and heard the girls talking that Nadine had come in and told everybody that she’s in love and that he’s a senator,” De Paola claimed, adding that she informed Anton, her former lawyer, of the news.
However, Arslanian’s close friend, novelist and podcast presenter John Alite, a former gangster, claimed of her, “She is not the one who is a gold digger. She is completely alone in that marriage.
Alite told The Post that he hasn’t spoken with his former pal since she married the senator.
In addition to the federal indictment, Arslanian might face legal consequences for killing a man with her Mercedes in Bogota, NJ, in December 2018.
Last year, New Jersey’s attorney general announced a new investigation into the death and its aftermath.
She called a friend for help before calling 911, and she may have just dialed the number after police had already arrived and given them the incorrect location for the crash that killed Bogota resident Richard Koop.
Dashcam footage and 911 recordings show her refusing to have her cellphone inspected but not inquiring where the victim is.
Michael Mordaga, a retired Hackensack chief of police, responded to her friend’s plea and assisted her in leaving the area.
She refused to take a field sobriety test and faced no criminal charges.
However, Arslanian did not hesitate to call 911 frequently at her residence, according to documents obtained by NorthJersey.com through Freedom of Information regulations.
She has called and visited the Englewood Cliffs police department 18 times in recent years, complaining about suspicious vehicles outside her home, constant calls from a blocked number to her cellphone, and a neighbor dumping animal waste on her suburban property, among other issues.
Menendez also contacted the police at the residence once, in September 2020, a month before they married, to report a strange vehicle parked near the driveway.
According to northjersey.com, the senator informed the police that the driver was “male with medium complexion skin, dark hair, and appeared to be Arabic.”
“I don’t blame her for being anxious right now, because you know what she’s going through,” an Englewood Cliffs neighbor told The Post Wednesday.
“But even before all of this, consider all of the nonsense her first husband dumped her with.
“I don’t know if she has OCD or she has anxiety, but I could see someone going through a bad divorce, having no money, being anxious.”
