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Here’s who’s who in the case against Sen. Menendez
By
Samantha Max
Published Sep 22, 2023
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Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
By
Samantha Max
Published Sep 22, 2023
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A 39-page indictment against U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey and his wife details what federal prosecutors called a “corrupt relationship” with three New Jersey businessmen who allegedly paid bribes in exchange for the senator’s influence and power.
The U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York claims that Menendez shared sensitive information with the Egyptian government, pressured a senior U.S. official to protect a business deal and tried to intervene in a federal prosecution. In return, according to the prosecutors, Menendez and his wife received hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, gold bars, mortgage payments and even a Mercedes-Benz.
Menendez has called the claims “false” and denied any wrongdoing.
Here’s what we know about the people at the center of the case:
Robert Menendez
Robert Menendez has been a U.S. senator for New Jersey since 2006. Before that, the Democrat served in the U.S. House of Representatives and the New Jersey State Legislature. He was also the mayor of Union City.
According to his official biography, Menendez is the son of Cuban immigrants and grew up in a tenement building in Union City. His political career began at age 19, his bio states, when he was elected to the Union City Board of Education. Menendez says he was the first member of his family to go to college.
Menendez now chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee — a position federal prosecutors say he has used to benefit the Egyptian government. The indictment accuses him of asking a high-ranking official in the U.S. Department of Agriculture to allow a company that was bribing him to have a monopoly on halal certifications for food exported from the U.S. to Egypt. It also alleges that Menendez attempted to disrupt criminal prosecutions connected to others who were bribing him.
This is not Menendez’s first indictment. In 2015, federal prosecutors accused him of using his political influence to benefit a Florida ophthalmologist who allegedly bribed him with nearly $1 million worth of gifts and campaign contributions. The case ended in a mistrial after a jury couldn’t reach a unanimous verdict.
A photo from Robert and Nadine Menendez's wedding.
Robert Menendez's Facebook page, 2020.
Nadine Menendez
Nadine Menendez, formerly Nadine Arslanian, started dating Menendez in February 2018, according to the indictment. The couple got engaged in 2019 and were married the next year, the indictment states.
A NJ.com story published after their wedding describes Nadine Menendez as an “international businesswoman” of Armenian descent. It says the two met about a decade earlier at an IHOP in Union City and later reconnected at a political event. But prosecutors say that she was employed prior to dating Menendez.
The indictment accuses Nadine Menendez of arranging meetings with her husband and Egyptian officials, during which the senator promised to use his power to benefit the Middle Eastern country. Prosecutors say one of the men who bribed her husband put her on the payroll of his company for a “low-or-no-show job.” It also accuses her of setting up an LLC to accept bribery payments and voicing her frustration in text messages when payments didn’t come through.
“I am soooooo upset,” she said in one text message after not receiving an envelope filled with cash when she expected to, according to the indictment.
Menendez indictment: What to know
- It’s the second time Menendez has faced a bribery indictment. He was charged in 2015 with trading political favors for donations and other perks, but the trial ended in a hung jury.
- Prosecutors say Menendez and his wife took gold bars, a luxury vehicle, $480,000 in cash and financial favors. Menendez denies the allegations.
- The indictment says Egypt gave one of the businessmen a lucrative Halal meat contract that helped fund the bribes.
- Menendez is also accused of abusing his influence on the Senate Foreign Relations commission to help Egypt, even ghost-writing a letter from Egypt officials to get U.S. aid.
- Late Friday, top New Jersey Democrats including Gov. Phil Murphy started calling for his resignation.
- Menendez is up for reelection in 2024. He's vowed to fight the charges.
Wael “Will” Hana
Hana is a New Jersey businessman originally from Egypt as well as a longtime friend of Nadine Menendez, according to prosecutors. The indictment states that he operates a New Jersey-based company called IS EG Halal, which inspects food before it is exported to Egypt to ensure that it meets Muslim religious standards.
On its website, the company boasts that it is “the only entity exclusively authorized by the government of Egypt to certify halal exports worldwide.” In addition to food, the website states, IS EG Halal also certifies pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and toiletries.
The indictment alleges that IS EG Halal had “little to no revenue” before 2019, nor experience with halal certifications. Once the company secured a monopoly on halal exports from the U.S. to Egypt, prosecutors claim, Hana funneled some of his revenue into bribes for the Menendezes, including exercise machines and an air purifier. Prosecutors say that Hana and Nadine Menendez worked together to introduce the senator to Egyptian officials so that he would use his influence to help both the Egyptian government and Hana’s company.
Jose Uribe
Uribe lives in New Jersey and worked in the trucking and insurance industries, according to the indictment. Prosecutors say he has also been convicted of fraud and that his broker’s license has been revoked in the past.
According to the indictment, Uribe is a friend and business associate of Hana, who connected him with Robert and Nadine Menendez.
The U.S. attorney’s office claims that Uribe wanted Menendez to interfere with a state criminal prosecution of one of his associates and an investigation involving one of his employees. Menendez allegedly asked a senior state prosecutor to resolve both matters favorably.
In return, Uribe bought Nadine Menendez a Mercedes-Benz convertible worth $60,000, according to prosecutors.
“You are a miracle worker who makes dreams come true and I will always remember that,” she texted Uribe, according to the indictment.
Fred Daibes
Daibes is CEO of Daibes Enterprises, a group of real estate companies that has built luxury apartments in Hackensack, Fort Lee and along the Hudson River in Edgewater. A profile of Daibes in VUE NJ magazine described Daibes Enterprises as “one of the largest regional developers in the tristate area.”
In April 2022, Daibes pleaded guilty to a federal banking charge. But before his guilty plea, Daibes allegedly asked the senator to intervene in his case.
Prosecutors say in the indictment that Menendez criticized the U.S. attorney’s office’s handling of the Daibes case and asked an attorney who was later nominated for the post whether he would look into the case if he became the new U.S. Attorney. After the attorney said he might have to recuse himself from the case, Menendez told him that he would recommend someone else for the position, according to the indictment. But when Menedez learned later that the attorney probably would not have to recuse himself, Menendez changed his mind, and the lawyer was chosen.
The indictment claims that Menedez also met with an adviser in the U.S. attorney’s office to express his frustration with its prosecution of Daibes. Though the case ended with a guilty plea, prosecutors allege that Daibes thanked Menendez for his attempts to sway the prosecution with cash-filled envelopes and gold bars.
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Samantha Max
Samantha reports on whether New Yorkers feel safe and whether the institutions that are supposed to protect them are working. Before coming to WNYC/Gothamist, she spent three years covering the criminal justice system in Tennessee for Nashville Public Radio. Her reporting on Nashville's police department received multiple awards, including the Daniel Schorr Journalism Prize. Samantha was also part of the inaugural class of Report for America, a service journalism program that sends up-and-coming reporters to local newsrooms across the country. She is a Northwestern University grad, a Baltimore native and fluent in Spanish. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or Signal: samanthamaxwnyc.93.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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