Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey — already accused of utilizing his political affect to profit Egypt — was newly charged on Tuesday with utilizing his energy to assist the federal government of Qatar.
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan stated that Mr. Menendez, a Democrat, exploited his Senate workplace to help a distinguished New Jersey developer in securing monetary backing from an funding fund run by a Qatari sheikh in alternate for profitable bribes. The alleged payoffs included money, gold bars, System 1 tickets for a relative and a suggestion of a designer watch.
Prosecutors stated that the developer, Fred Daibes, “additionally anticipated Menendez in alternate to take motion to profit the federal government of Qatar, and thereby profit Daibes, who was searching for hundreds of thousands of {dollars} in funding from a fund with ties to the federal government of Qatar.”
The up to date indictment broadens the federal government’s allegations that Mr. Menendez, 70, who was the influential head of the Senate Overseas Relations Committee on the time, used his official place to convey advantages to international governments in return for bricks of gold and tens of 1000’s of {dollars} in bribes. In October, prosecutors accused Mr. Menendez; his spouse, Nadine Menendez; and one other defendant, Wael Hana, of conspiring to have the senator work on behalf of the Egyptian authorities with out registering with the Justice Division.
Adam Charge, a lawyer for Mr. Menendez, stated Tuesday that the federal government’s new allegations “stink of desperation.”
“Regardless of what they’ve touted in press releases, the federal government doesn’t have the proof to again up any of the previous or new allegations in opposition to Senator Menendez,” Mr. Charge stated. “What they’ve as a substitute is a string of baseless assumptions and weird conjectures based mostly on routine, lawful contacts between a senator and his constituents or international officers. They’re turning this right into a persecution, not a prosecution.”
“Always,” he added, “Senator Menendez acted completely appropriately with respect to Qatar, Egypt and the numerous different international locations he routinely interacts with.”
Mr. Daibes’s lawyer, Tim Donohue, stated he had no remark. Ms. Menendez’s lawyer didn’t reply to a request for remark. Damian Williams, the U.S. lawyer in Manhattan, declined by way of a spokesman to touch upon the brand new indictment.
Mr. Menendez stepped down from his Overseas Relations Committee put up after he was first indicted in September, however he has resisted calls that he resign from the Senate and has not dominated out working for re-election. He and his co-defendants have all pleaded not responsible, and they’re scheduled for trial in U.S. District Courtroom in Manhattan in Might.
The brand new accusations are sure to resume scrutiny not simply of Mr. Menendez but in addition of Qatar. Investigators in Europe and the US have spent years attempting to fight subtle affect operations by rich Persian Gulf nations, together with Qatar, on each side of the Atlantic.
Belgian authorities charged a European Parliament official in 2022 as a part of a sweeping investigation into Qatari bribes. American prosecutors have accused the rich Arab nation of bribing FIFA officers to host the 2022 World Cup, which the senator attended. (Mr. Daibes was additionally in Qatar throughout the video games, courtroom information present, however it was unclear if he attended any matches.) And simply final yr, the Justice Division scrutinized however finally determined to not cost a retired four-star Marine basic who it suspected was secretly lobbying for the nation.
Mr. Daibes, the developer, had been planning a serious high-rise residential venture at 115 River Highway in Edgewater, N.J., however the venture misplaced its financing after getting slowed down in a delayed environmental cleanup, courtroom information present.
Prosecutors stated it was Mr. Menendez who helped craft an answer.
In June 2021, the senator launched Mr. Daibes to an investor who was a member of the Qatari royal household and the principal of the Qatari funding firm, the indictment stated.
In late 2022, Mr. Daibes — who on the time was going through unrelated federal financial institution fraud expenses in New Jersey — bought permission to journey to London and Qatar to fulfill with the potential new lenders, who had signed a letter of intent to enter right into a three way partnership with an organization managed by Mr. Daibes.
Then, in January 2023, he finalized a $45 million shared-ownership settlement for the Edgewater venture with an organization based by the member of Qatar’s royal household, Bergen County deed information present.
A spokesman for the corporate, Heritage Advisors, couldn’t be instantly reached for remark.
The brand new allegations in opposition to Mr. Menendez declare that throughout the interval when the monetary take care of the Qatari-linked fund was below dialogue, the senator “made a number of public statements supporting the federal government of Qatar.”
Mr. Menendez additionally offered Mr. Daibes with these statements in order that the developer might “share them with the Qatari investor and a Qatari authorities official related to Qatari Funding Firm,” prosecutors stated.
In September 2021, Mr. Menendez and Mr. Daibes attended a non-public occasion in Manhattan held by the Qatari authorities. A number of days later, Mr. Daibes despatched Mr. Menendez images of wristwatches with costs starting from $9,990 to $23,990. “How about one in every of these,” Mr. Daibes wrote, prosecutors stated.
Inside days, Mr. Daibes despatched Mr. Menendez a hyperlink to a web site that tracked a Senate decision supportive of Qatar that had been launched a day earlier and referred to the Overseas Relations Committee.
Mr. Menendez additionally used an encrypted messaging app to speak instantly with the Qatari investor in help of Mr. Daibes, prosecutors stated. “Greetings. I perceive my pal goes to go to with you,” the senator wrote, including, “I hope that this may end result within the favorable and mutually useful settlement that you’ve been each engaged in discussing.”
A number of days after the letter of intent was signed, Mr. Daibes, Ms. Menendez and Mr. Menendez met for dinner in Edgewater, in response to the indictment. Hours later, Mr. Menendez carried out a Google seek for “one kilo gold worth.”
The brand new indictment additionally suggests for the primary time that the senator and his spouse took steps to attempt to cowl up different bribes they’re accused of taking after federal brokers raided the couple’s New Jersey home in 2022.
Particularly, prosecutors stated that in December 2022 the Menendezes tried to repay tens of 1000’s of {dollars} price of bribes that had come within the types of funds for a house mortgage and towards a Mercedes-Benz convertible. In each instances, the couple created documentation describing the unique bribes as loans they have been repaying, the indictment stated.
