U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey and his wife have been indicted on charges of bribery.
Federal prosecutors on Friday announced the charges against the 69-year-old powerful Democratic leader nearly six years after an earlier criminal case against him ended with a deadlocked jury.
Menendez and his wife have been indicted on three charges: conspiracy to commit bribery, conspiracy to commit honest services fraud, and conspiracy to commit extortion under color of official right.
Semafor wrote Friday that three foreign businessmen “allegedly bribed Menendez to benefit themselves and the country of Egypt.”
“The indictment alleges that Menendez and his wife, Nadine Menendez, used the senator’s influence over foreign aid to accept bribes through a halal meat certifying company which scored a monopoly with the Egyptian government to certify imported meat,” the newspaper reported.
“The bribes allegedly included cash, gold bars, a luxury car, and more. During a search of Menendezes’ home, investigators found envelopes of cash stuffed into closets and clothing, including jackets bearing Sen. Menendez’s name,” Semafor wrote.
According to a report Monday, FBI and IRS had also been investigating a separate relationship between Menedenez and Fred Daibes, a developer from New Jersey.
Investigators are looking into the allegations that Menendez reached out to the Justice Department to aid the “admitted felon” that has been accused of banking crimes.
Daibes has suspected ties to the La Cosa Nostra mafia family, according to The Daily Beast.
The magazine wrote in June that retired law enforcement agents “identified one of the repeat visitors to the Daibes offices as Michael ‘Tona’ Borelli, who died in 2020 — but who in life was among the most powerful men in the New Jersey crew of the Genovese family, one of the five Italian mafia clans of New York City.”
Their report continued —
In the 2000s, Borelli pled guilty to state and federal charges of running illegal gambling rings. As far back as 1996, the Jersey Journal identified him as one of the “three top Genovese operatives in New Jersey.”
One of the former investigators who spoke to The Daily Beast recalled that the meetings between the gangster and the property mogul typically took place shortly before Borelli drove to Manhattan to report to his superiors in the syndicate. The ex-lawmen remarked on the pervasive corruption of the New Jersey waterfront– particularly in Daibes’ home base of Edgewater.
“It makes South Hackensack look like the City on the Hill,” one laughed.
The latest indictment is unrelated to that investigation.
Menendez has vigorously denied the charges, and in April said, “This inquiry will end up, I believe, in absolutely nothing.”
The Senate Historical Office says Menendez appears to be the first sitting senator in U.S. history to have been indicted on two unrelated criminal allegations.
Menendez faces reelection next year in a bid in Democrat-controlled New Jersey to extend his three-decade career in Washington.
Democrats hold a narrow majority in the U.S. Senate, making this indictment critical for the balance of power in Washington, D.C.
“A press event will be held today at 11:00 a.m. to announce the unsealing of an indictment charging Robert Menendez, U.S. Senator from New Jersey, and his wife, Nadine Menendez, with bribery offenses in connection with their corrupt relationship with three New Jersey businessmen,” the U.S. attorney’s office posted on X.
Take a look —
A press event will be held today at 11:00 a.m. to announce the unsealing of an indictment charging Robert Menendez, U.S. Senator from New Jersey, and his wife, Nadine Menendez, with bribery offenses in connection with their corrupt relationship with three New Jersey businessmen. pic.twitter.com/CLTXnU0mAm
— US Attorney SDNY (@SDNYnews) September 22, 2023