BEAUTIES & THE BOAST
Two young girlfriends of the rich, married, doctor pal of New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez were hauled into federal court on Tuesday to tell jurors about how the pol used the weight of his office to get them US tourist visas. Rosiell Polanco and Svitlana Buchyk took the stand at the request of Department of Justice lawyers who have accused the Garden State’s senior senator of taking bribes from Dr. Salomon Melgen, a wealthy West Palm Beach eye doctor convicted of Medicare fraud. Polanco, who now lives in Raleigh, NC, told the jury she got a call from the US Embassy in the Dominican Republic telling her to come in for a second visa interview one week after she and her 18year-old sister had been rejected.
Polanco, who was 22 at the time, attributed the turnaround to Melgen’s promise to “fix” their visa snafu — with the help of his senator pal.
“He told me he was going to try to fix it — that he was going to talk to the senator,” the stunning brunette told the jury, speaking through a Spanish interpreter.
Menendez and Melgen, both 63, are on trial in Newark federal court on charges that Melgen bribed the senator with lavish gifts, including all-expense-paid vacations and $750,000 in campaign contri- butions, in exchange for Menendez’s help with his business and personal affairs, including visas for his three foreign flings.
The second witness, Ukrainian model Svitlana Buchyk, said Melgen introduced her to Menendez when they met for dinner at a fancy restaurant in Miami.
“It was in a jokey way. It wasn’t in a serious way,” Buchyk insisted of Melgen’s introducing Menendez as the man who helped her get a visa. “It’s just how Latin people talk,” the blond bombshell snipped.
Menendez has insisted that he helped the women due to his decades-long friendship with Melgen — not for bribes.