New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez and his wife were indicted in New York on federal bribery charges for allegedly accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, gold bars, a Mercedes-Benz convertible, home mortgage payments, and other things of value in exchange for favours from the senator. The indictment alleges that Menendez used his position as a senator to benefit three New Jersey businessmen, who in turn provided him and his wife with bribes, CNBC reported.
The indictment against Senator Bob Menendez alleges that he gave sensitive U.S. government information to Egypt and helped the Egyptian government in secret. The indictment also alleges that Menendez tried to pressurize U.S. Agriculture Department officials to protect a business monopoly in Egypt for one of the three businessmen who bribed him.
Menendez, who is up for reelection in 2024, agreed to step down as chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee due to the charges, according to CNBC News. Menendez married Nadine Arslanian in October 2020, after dating for nearly three years. Nadine had been friends with Wael Hana, a 40-year-old Egyptian native, for many years.
The indictment alleges that after Nadine Arslanian began dating Senator Bob Menendez, she and Wael Hana introduced him to Egyptian intelligence and military officials in order to bribe him and his wife to benefit Egypt with military sales and financing.
The indictment says that during a June 2022 raid on Senator Menendez's New Jersey home and a safe deposit box, federal agents found cash, gold, and a luxury car that were the result of the senator's and his wife's corrupt bribery agreement with the businessmen.
Apart from the money, law enforcement officers also confiscated gold bars weighing 81.5 ounces, which, at the current market rate, have an approximate value of $155,000.
Menendez and Nadine face three charges: conspiring to engage in bribery, conspiring to commit fraud related to honest services, and conspiring to commit extortion while abusing their official authority.
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