Senator Robert Menendez spent years helping the Egyptian-American imam behind the controversial ground zero mosque – a plan championed by embattled Democrats.
Menendez, 69, was indicted on federal bribery charges Friday, along with his wife, over a scheme that allegedly benefited the Egyptian government and three New Jersey businessmen.
Beginning in 1989, when the senator was mayor of Union City, NJ, Menendez reportedly obtained more than $2 million in public cash and loans for Egyptian-American imam Feisal Abdul Rauf.
The funding was intended to renovate three low-income apartment buildings Rauf owned there, according to the report — buildings that, tenants complained, remained dilapidated for years after the money was received.
At the same time, Rauf did business with developer Fred Daibes — Menendez’s political benefactor who allegedly bribed him with gold bars and cash, and who was named as a co-defendant with Menendez on Friday.
New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez is under federal indictment on corruption charges.AP
New Jersey developer Fred Daibes, a longtime ally of Menendez, is accused of showering the senator with cash and gold bullion to get help with his business deals.AP
Prosecutors in the Southern District of New York said they found gold bars from Daibes at the home Menendez shared with his wife Nadine.Steven Hirsch
Rauf was not named in the federal indictment against Menendez and was not accused of any wrongdoing.
In 2010, when controversy erupted over Rauf’s plans to build an Islamic center and mosque two blocks from the World Trade Center site, Menendez cheered the proposed 13-story structure.
What we know about Bob Menendez’s allegations
New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez is facing federal corruption charges related to the alleged years-long scheme.
Menendez is accused of accepting bribes, including gold bars, in exchange for helping three businessmen, Wael Hana, Jose Uribe and Fred Daibes, and the Egyptian state, according to officials.
Menendez and his wife, Nadine, allegedly accepted hundreds of thousands in bribes, according to a Manhattan federal indictment.
When the feds raided Menendez’s Englewood Cliffs home in June 2022, they found a 2019 Mercedes C-Class, at least 13 gold bars and $566,000 in cash “stuffed in an envelope.” Another $70,000 in cash was found in Nadine’s safe.
Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and his wife, Nadine Menendez, have been indicted on federal corruption charges.AP
The feds said Menendez also received mortgage payments and paid for low or absent work and home furnishings.
This is not the first time the 69-year-old Democrat has faced federal corruption charges. In 2015, Menendez was accused of taking gifts from Florida eye surgeon Salomon Melgen.
“Gifts” include a vacation to Paris, a flight on a private jet and a holiday at Melgen’s villa in the Dominican Republic.
“With the passion involved and the attempt by Republicans to politicize it, there will never be a good moment,” Menendez said in defense of his former ally’s project. “Sometimes leading is reminding our people of what the Constitution is.”
Egyptian-American imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, who tried to build a controversial mosque near the World Trade Center site, is a longtime business partner of Daibes and received public money from Menendez.REUTERS
Rauf’s prayer hall, school and recreation center that drew strong opposition from many who lost family members in the attack on the twin towers were never built. It is unclear whether Menendez derived any personal benefit from his support of Rauf’s plan.
Calls and emails to Rauf were not returned on Saturday. Menendez did not respond to a request for comment. An attorney representing Daibes did not respond to a request for comment.
Categories: Trending
Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
