New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez has been hit with federal corruption charges related to a years-long scheme in which he allegedly accepted bribes — including more than $150,000 in gold bars — in exchange for helping the government of Egypt and protecting the interests of three wealthy businessmen.
The Democrat, 69 — and his wife, Nadine Menendez, 56 — were charged with taking hundreds of thousands in bribes in the form of cash, gold bars, a Mercedes-Benz convertible and even exercise machines and an air purifier from 2018 through 2022, according to a Manhattan federal indictment unsealed Friday.
Manhattan US Attorney Damian Williams, at a news conference announcing the charges, said Menendez used his “power and influence” – including his position as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee – to benefit the Egyptian regime.
He also allegedly tried to meddle in the criminal prosecution of one of the businessmen by pushing President Biden to nominate Philip R. Sellinger as the US Attorney for New Jersey, because he believed Sellinger could influence the case, according to the indictment.
This is Menendez’ second time facing federal corruption charges. The prior criminal case against Menendez in New Jersey ended with a hung jury in 2017.
The bombshell new indictment alleges Menendez, a New Jersey senator since 2006, stuffed stacks of alleged ill-gotten cash in the pockets of official government jackets emblazoned with his name – and Googled “kilo of gold price.”
The feds raided Menendez’s Englewood Cliffs home in June 2022 and found “the fruits” of his “corrupt bribery agreement” — including the 2019 Mercedes C-Class, at least 13 gold bars and $486,461 in cash, the indictment states.
Piles of cash were found in envelopes in Menendez’s closet.US District Court
Nadine Arslanian and Bob Menendez at the White House.Getty Images
The money was “stuffed in envelopes” and “hidden in clothing, closets, and a safe,” including in the jackets, pictures of which were included in the court papers.
Another $70,000 in cash was found in Nadine’s safe deposit box, the indictment claims.
In exchange, Menendez used his office to help and shield three Garden State businessmen, co-defendants Wael Hana, 40, Jose Uribe, 56, and Fred Daibes, 66, the court papers claim.
Menendez has been hit with federal corruption charges related to a years-long scheme in which he allegedly accepted bribes, including gold bars.US District Court
Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announces the indictment of NJ Senator Robert Menendez and his wife on corruption charges.Steven Hirsch
Through a “corrupt relationship” with the three men, Menendez and his wife “accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars of bribes in exchange for Senator Menendez using his power and influence to protect and to enrich those businessmen and to benefit the government of Egypt,” Williams told reporters.
Menendez allegedly provided “substantial military aid to Egypt” including by:
- Handing over sensitive information from the US government to Egyptian officials through a middleman, Hana, of Edgewater NJ., a longtime friend of Nadine’s who founded a halal food certification company.
- Ghost writing a letter to other senators urging them to release a hold on $300 million in aid to Egypt.
- Lobbying then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in April 2020 to increase US engagement in stalled negotiations between Egypt, Ethiopia, and the Sudan over the building a dam on the Nile River, a key foreign policy issue for Egypt.
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“Senator Menendez allegedly provided sensitive nonpublic US government information to Egyptian officials, and otherwise took steps to secretly aid the government of Egypt,” Williams charged.
The senator also allegedly tried to interfere in criminal probes involving Uribe, a former insurance agent from Union City, NJ., and Daibes, a New Jersey real estate developer and Menendez fundraiser.
New Jersey Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez and his new wife, Nadine Arslanian, are the focus of an FBI probe into whether they received gifts.AFP via Getty Images
Uribe, who runs a trucking and insurance business, and Hana allegedly agreed to buy Menendez and his wife the Mercedes-Benz C-300 convertible, worth $60,000, in April 2019, the indictment claims.
On April 4, 2019, Uribe met with Nadine in a parking lot, handing her $15,000 in cash, which she used toward a down payment on the car. He also made monthly payments on the car from 2019 until June 2022.
Nadine sent a text to her politician husband with a photo of the Mercedes and the message: “Congratulations mon amour de la vie, we are the proud owners of a 2019 Mercedes” with a heart emoji, the indictment alleges.
Stacks of cash were found in Menendez’s closet with his government outerwear.US District Court
In exchange, Menendez allegedly tried to get a prosecutor in the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office to offer a favorable outcome in the case against one of Uribe’s associates and in another investigation against one of his employees, court papers say.
The prosecutor found the meetings with Menendez inappropriate and didn’t succumb to pressure, but Uribe’s associate still got a no-jail plea agreement and his employee was never charged, according to the indictment.
Similarly, Menendez allegedly sought to help Daibes – who court papers say bribed the couple with gold bars and cash for a series of favors – in a federal case he faced by recommending Sellinger for the post of New Jersey US Attorney.
Sen. Menendez lives in this house in Englewood Cliffs, NJ.Kevin C Downs
Prosecutors allege Daibes in March 2022 gave Nadine two gold bars that were a kilogram each – when at the time gold went for $60,000 per kilogram. And Daibes’ driver’s fingerprints were later discovered on an envelope containing thousands of dollars in cash and recovered from the couple’s home, according to the indictment.
While Sellinger – who was not accused of wrongdoing and who is named only as “official 3” in the indictment – wound up recusing himself from the case, Daibes still received a no-jail plea deal in April 2022, the indictment notes.
Williams pointed out a message on Menendez’s official Senate website, which states, in part, that “he cannot compel an agency to act in someone’s favor … he cannot influence matters involving a private business. It says he cannot get involved in criminal matters, or cases, period.”
“But we allege behind the scenes, Senator Menendez was doing those things for certain people, the people who were bribing him and his wife,” Williams charged.
James Smith, the FBI New York assistant director in charge, speaks during a press conference after announcing the indictment against Menendez.Getty Images
Menendez met Hana, an Egyptian immigrant, through Nadine — who had been friends with Hana for years prior to her starting to date Menendez in 2018.
The couple went out with Hana and dined on his dime on several occasions — so that prosecutors say the businessman and Nadine could convince Menendez to use his post on the Foreign Relations Committee to help get military aid to Egypt.
Egypt was at the time one of the top recipients of US aid — despite reservations from some politicians that the funds should be held until the country improved its human rights record.
In May 2018, Menendez, through his wife and Hana, provided an Egyptian official with “sensitive nonpublic” information about the number and nationality of people working in the US Embassy in Cairo, the feds allege.
That same month, he gave Hana non-public information about US military aid to Egypt, the indictment states.
Menendez and his wife would meet with five Egyptian officials in the US including one that Nadine referred to as “the general.” And the couple, who wed in 2020, took a trip to Egypt in October 2021, meeting with a slew of officials there too, the court papers allege.
After one meeting between Menendez and an Egyptian official, Hana on June 23, 2021, purchased 22 one-ounce gold bars — two of which were later found at the senator’s house, the indictment states.
US Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey and his wife have been indicted on charges of bribery.AP/Alex Brandon
Hana, and his company IS EG Halal in 2019 were given a monopoly by Egypt as the sole company to certify foods as Halal, despite having no prior experience in the field.
The businessman then allegedly paid Nadine, a former marketer for a medical company, with three $10,000 checks for a no-show job at IS EG Halal. She used the money to help bring her mortgage payments up to date after foreclosure was initiated on her Bergen County property, the indictment states.
Williams noted that the investigation was “very much ongoing.”
Sen. Bob Menendez proposed to Nadine Arslanian in front of the Taj Mahal.Robert&Nadine/YouTube
“We’re not done,” he said. “And I want to encourage anyone with information to come forward and to come forward quickly, they can do that by reaching out, the FBI tip line at 1-800-CALL-FBI.”
In a lengthy statement, Menendez claimed he had been falsely accused and the victim of “an active smear campaign.”
“For years, forces behind the scenes have repeatedly attempted to silence my voice and dig my political grave. Since this investigation was leaked nearly a year ago, there has been an active smear campaign of anonymous sources and innuendos to create an air of impropriety where none exists,” the statement said.
“[Prosecutors] have misrepresented the normal work of a Congressional office. On top of that, not content with making false claims against me, they have attacked my wife for the longstanding friendships she had before she and I even met.”
Menendez, his wife Nadine, and Uribe, Daibes and Hana are expected to make their first appearance in Manhattan federal court in the case on Wednesday morning, according to a spokesman for the US Attorney’s Office.
Evidence photos show the gifts, including cash and gold bars, allegedly used to bribe Menendez.Steven Hirsch
Who’s involved in the indictment of Sen. Bob Menendez
The New Jersey Democrat is facing charges of taking gold bars and bribes and stashing hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash around his house in return for using his “power and influence” — including his position as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee — to benefit the Egyptian government and two local businessmen.
Menendez and his wife Nadine Menendez were charged with accepting hundreds of thousands in bribes including over $100,000 worth of gold bars.
Sen. Robert Menendez and Nadine Menendez
The New Jersey Democrat was indicted Friday for allegedly accepting a Mercedes Benz C-Class sedan, 13 gold bars and $566,000 in cash, which FBI agents found “stuffed in envelopes” after a June 2022 search of his home.
Senator Menendez’s wife, Nadine, was indicted alongside her husband for taking bribes. The Menendezes also received mortgage payments, a recliner, exercise machines and other items in exchange for shielding co-defendants Wael Hana, Jose Uribe and Fred Daibes.
Bob Menendez also allegedly attempted to intervene in a criminal case against Daibes by recommending President Biden pick current New Jersey US Attorney Philip Sellinger, who the senator believed would apply a light touch to the cause.
If convicted on all charges, the Democratic senator faces up to 45 years in prison.
Real estate developer Fred Daibes allegedly bribed the senator and his wife with cash and gold bars.AP
Fred Daibes
Menendez and his wife allegedly had a longstanding relationship with New Jersey real estate developer Fred Daibes, who court papers say bribed the couple with gold bars and cash for a series of favors, including the senator’s help disrupting a federal prosecution into Daibes.
Daibes received probation after pleading guilty last year to entering false loan information.
Bob and Nadine Menendez used a cash bribe to buy a 2009 Mercedes C-class convertible, authorities say.US District Court
Jose Uribe
In April 2019, Menendez’s wife Nadine met former insurance agent from Union City, NJ. Jose Uribe “for five minutes.” Nadine ducked into the parking lot of a restaurant where Uribe, 56, handed her $15,000 in cash, court papers allege.
She then used the cash to make a down payment on a Mercedes-Benz C-class convertible – while Uribe asked the senator to tamper with the state attorney general’s prosecution of one of his colleagues for insurance fraud, according to the court docs.
Wael Hana
Menendez allegedly updated unnamed Egyptian officials in real-time about US military aid to the country through Edgewater, NJ., businessman Wael Hana. The businessman sent Menendez’s proposal for foreign military sale to Egypt of tens of thousands of rounds of ammunition for firearms and tanks to an Egyptian official for approval.
Wael Hana, who is originally from Egypt, is a businessman.
In early 2021 Hana allegedly used funds from his halal business to send two exercise machines and an air purifier, among other items, to the Menendez home.
In exchange for these gifts and other alleged bribes, Menendez improperly pressured a US Department of Agriculture official to protect Hana’s “exclusive monopoly”, granted in 2019, on signing off on US food exported to Egypt as compliant with halal standards, despite Hana having no prior experience with halal certification, the feds said.
Menendez and Nadine are charged with conspiracy to commit bribery, honest services fraud and to commit extortion under color of official right and faces up to 45 years behind bars if convicted on all counts.
Hana, Daibes and Uribe are charged with conspiracy to commit bribery and honest services fraud and face up to 25 years in prison if convicted on all charges.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
