The Justice Department said that Democratic Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey has been charged for allegedly taking bribes totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars.According to the prosecution, Mr. Menendez and his spouse took cash envelopes and gold bars from businesses in New Jersey.Prosecutors claim that the senator and his spouse took the money in order to covertly support the Egyptian government.Menendez, both Mr. and Ms., have angrily refuted the allegations.Conspiracy to commit bribery, conspiracy to commit honest services fraud, and conspiracy to commit extortion under colour of official authority are the three criminal counts that each of the two faces.Following a year-long Justice Department investigation, an indictment was returned.
According to the prosecution, Wael Hana, Jose Uribe, and Fred Daibes, three men from New Jersey, offered Mr. Menendez and his wife Nadine bribes in the form of cash, gold, payments towards a house mortgage, and a fancy car.According to the indictment, they accepted the money in order to utilise Mr. Menendez’s position as a senator to defend the three businesses in addition to aiding the Egyptian government.In 2018, Senator Robert Menendez, 69, was elected to a third term in the Senate and serves as the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
This 39-page indictment claims that he was able to sell influence in these areas because of his “leadership position on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (the “SFRC”), first as the Ranking Member and then as the Chairman.”Ms Menendez said she will defend herself in court and denied any misconduct in a statement sent by her attorneys.Moreover, Mr. Menendez refuted the accusations and characterised them as having political motivations.
In a long speech, he stated, “For years, forces behind the scenes have repeatedly attempted to silence my voice and dig my political grave.” “There has been an ongoing smear campaign using anonymous sources and innuendos to create an air of impropriety where none exists since this investigation was leaked nearly a year ago.””After all the facts are known and my fellow New Jerseyans see this for what it is, I am sure that this matter will be successfully resolved,” he continued.When federal officials carried out search warrants at Mr. Menendez’s residence in the summer of 2022, they discovered evidence of the bribery deals, including more than $480,000 (£391,000) in cash, most of which was allegedly “stuffed into envelopes and hidden in clothing, closets, and a safe,” according to the prosecution.
In addition, agents claimed to have discovered $100,000 worth of gold bars inside the house, with images of the bars included in the indictment, and a Mercedes-Benz luxury car that Mr. Uribe had paid for parked in the garage.Bars of GoldSouthern District of New York, the image sourceDuring a press conference on Friday, the prosecution cited information from Mr. Menendez’s website, which outlines the legislative authority limitations he has, including as his inability to get involved in criminal cases.Damian Williams, the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, stated, “Behind the scenes, Senator Menendez was doing those things for certain people – the people who were bribing him in his wife.”Prosecutors said in the indictment that Mr. Menendez’s spouse arranged for one of the three New Jersey businessmen, Mr. Hana, to introduce the senator to military and intelligence officers in Egypt.
Prosecutors claim that Mrs. Menendez erased thousands of texts that she exchanged with Mr. Hana, an Egyptian native, from her cellAccording to the indictment, Mr. Hana and Mrs. Menendez established a “corrupt agreement” in which the New Jersey billionaire gave money in exchange for the senator helping the Egyptian regime through foreign military finance and sales.Prosecutors claim that Mr. Menendez once covertly ghostwrote a letter on behalf of the Egyptian government in an effort to persuade other US senators to lift the embargo on $300 million in aid intended for Egypt.
Prosecutors claim that Mr. Hana promised to pay Mrs. Menendez with a “low-or-no-show” employment in exchange for her assistance to Egyptian officials.Additionally, Mr. Menendez is charged with taking the Mercedes convertible in return for obstructing a state criminal investigation against one of Mr. Uribe’s acquaintances in New Jersey.Mr. Menendez and his spouse have been requested to give up a number of possessions, including their house in New Jersey, due to the charges.
On September 27, Mr. Menendez, his spouse, and his three co-defendants are expected to appear in Manhattan federal courCharges of bribery against Mr. Menendez are not new. The senator, who has been a member of Congress since 2006, was charged in 2015 in New Jersey on charges that he took bribes from a rich Florida eye specialist, including lavish vacations.Jurors were unable to come to a unanimous decision in that case, and the trial ended in misconduct.
