Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez of NJ indicted a 2nd time on corruption charges
By
Nancy Solomon
,
Samantha Max
and
Louis C. Hochman
Published Sep 22, 2023
Modified Sep 22, 2023
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
Getty Images
By
Nancy Solomon
,
Samantha Max
and
Louis C. Hochman
Published Sep 22, 2023
Modified Sep 22, 2023
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Federal prosecutors have indicted Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey and his wife on corruption charges, alleging he took bribes to enrich New Jersey businessmen while offering benefits to the Egyptian government.
The indictment alleges real estate developer Fred Daibes; Wael Hana, who owns a halal meat certification business in New Jersey; and businessman Jose Uribe collectively provided hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes in exchange for Menendez’s “acts and breaches of duty to benefit the Government of Egypt, Hana, and others, including with respect to foreign military sales and foreign military financing.”
It also says Menendez provided sensitive information to the Egyptian government.
Menendez, a Democrat, leads the Senate’s Foreign Relations Committee and is a longtime member of New Jersey’s congressional delegation. The indictment comes almost six years after Menendez was tried on corruption charges related to a Florida eye surgeon, which ended in a mistrial.
Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York allege in the indictment that the corruption scheme began in 2018, the same year Menendez met his wife, Nadine Arslanian Menendez. It says Nadine Arslanian Menendez is a longtime friend of Hana’s.
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.
- Here's a breakdown of the key figures discussed in the indictment.
- 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.
The indictment says Menendez took bribes that included “cash, gold, payments toward a home mortgage, compensation for a low-or-no-showjob, a luxury vehicle, and other things of value.”
Prosecutors also say he interfered with the state attorney general’s office’s investigation into Jose Uribe, a former insurance agent convicted of fraud. The indictment describes Uribe as a business associate of Hana’s.
In a lengthy statement following the release of the indictment, Menendez said the charges were false and suggested there was a campaign against him, waged by people who "cannot accept that a first-generation Latino American from humble beginnings could rise to be a U.S. Senator and serve with honor and distinction."
Menendez was charged in 2015 with giving political favors to an associate in exchange for donations, vacations and use of a private jet. The 2017 trial resulted in a hung jury.
“To my supporters, friends and the community at large, I ask that you recall the other times the prosecutors got it wrong and that you reserve judgement," Menendez said in a statement Friday. "I am confident that this matter will be successfully resolved once all of the facts are presented and my fellow New Jerseyans will see this for what it is."
Friday's indictment says a search warrant of Menendez’s home and safe deposit box turned up gold, a luxury vehicle, and $480,000 in cash — much of it stuffed into envelopes and hidden in clothing, closets and a safe. The indictment says law enforcement found $70,000 in Nadine Arslanian Menendez’s safe deposit box.
Photos included in the indictment show gold bars, as well as wads of cash with jackets emblazoned “Robert Menendez Congressional Hispanic Caucus” and “Senator Menendez.”
Prosecutors say they found cash stuffed into jackets and clothing in Menendez's home.
U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.
The indictment also alleges Hana paid about $23,000 for the couple’s mortgage, after a mortgage company initiated foreclosure proceedings; after a payment was missed, Nadine Arslanian Menendez texted the senator saying “I am soooooo upset."
As a ranking member and then chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Menendez “possessed influence over, among other things, the executive branch’s decisions to provide foreign military sales, foreign military financing, and other aid or support to or for the benefit of the government of Egypt,” the indictment states.
At a brief press conference after the unsealing of the indictment Friday, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams accused Menendez of aiding a foreign power.
“Among other actions, Senator Menendez allegedly provided sensitive, non-public U. S. government information to Egyptian officials and otherwise took steps to secretly aid the government of Egypt,” Williams said.
Before 2018, Egypt faced barriers to U.S. aid because of concerns about human rights and anti-democratic practices. But during the time described in the indictment Egypt was one of the largest recipients of U.S. Military aid worldwide, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors say they found more than $100,000 in gold bars in Menendez's home.
U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.
The indictment says Menendez took steps that included ghostwriting a letter on behalf of Egyptian officials to sway other U.S. senators into granting $300 million in aid. And it says Menendez pressured a Department of Agriculture official to benefit Hana and the Egyptian government.
In 2019, the Egyptian government granted Hana’s company, IS EG Halal, an exclusive monopoly on certification of U.S. food exports to Egypt as compliant with halal standards, even though Hana and his company had no experience with halal certification, prosecutors said. That, in turn, let Hana provide payments to Menendez and his wife, according to prosecutors.
After an Egyptian official informed Hana of the monopoly certification, Nadine Arslanian Menendez texted the senator: “Seems like halal went through. It might be a fantastic 2019 all the way around,” according to the indictment.
It says in June 2019, Nadine Arslanian Menendez’ formed “Strategic International Business Consultants, LLC” with help from Menendez, and the company was used to receive bribe payments. Nadine Arslanian Menendez allegedly sent a text message to a relative: “Every time I’m in a middle person for a deal I am asking to get paid and this is my consulting company.”
Uribe, of Union City, was previously convicted of fraud in New Jersey and subsequently lost his insurance broker’s license. He’s accused of purchasing a Mercedes Benz for Nadine Menendez in exchange for the senator’s advocacy on his behalf in criminal matters involving Uribe at the State Attorney General's Office.
Menendez contacted a senior attorney at the AG’s office to allegedly apply pressure on Uribe’s behalf, the indictment says.
Williams said Menendez went beyond the scope of permitted constituent services to benefit himself, his bribers and the Egyptian government.
“The senator agreed to do these things and use his powers in this way because Hana was paying bribes, because Uribe was paying bribes, and because Daibes was paying bribes,” Williams said.
The U.S. Attorney said the investigation is ongoing and encouraged anyone with information to “come forward quickly.”
Last year, when the news site Semafor.com broke the story of the new Menendez investigation, several Democrats were quick to sing his praises. Gov. Phil Murphy said at the time that he didn’t know much about the accusations, but that Menendez had been an “incredibly valuable and important partner,” and a strong advocate for New Jersey in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.
At an event to commemorate Sandy's 10th anniversary in the days following the Semafor story, fellow U.S. Sen. Cory Booker called Menendez "not just a hero for this state, but for Louisiana to Florida, to every community that is suffering the ravages of climate change." And U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone said Menendez was accessible to people suffering after Sandy: "You could just call him up and ask for individual help."
Menendez, 69, started his career in the 1980's as a local New Jersey politician. He was elected to Congress in 1992 where he served until 2006 when he was appointed to fill the U.S. Senate seat vacated by newly elected Gov. Jon Corzine. He is next up for re-election in 2024. He refused to step down during his first trial on federal corruption charges, but if he were to resign during his term, Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, would appoint his successor.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
Tagged
corruption
us attorney's office
robert menendez
new jersey
Politics
Nancy Solomon
Read more
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.
Read more
Louis C. Hochman
After about two decades in (mostly) New Jersey-focused commercial print, digital and digital-but-radio-adjacent news, Lou stumbled into member-supported news in early 2021, as the editor and CEO of Montclair Local. There, he (hopes he) expanded enterprise, brought more sophistication to digital storytelling and moved the nonprofit newsroom closer to long-term financial sustainability. He helped lead the Local to its fourth consecutive General Excellence award from the New Jersey Press Association — the NJPA's highest honor with judges noting the paper's work to strip away layers of government opacity, to hold power to account, to make news accessible for more members of the community, to share the stories and concerns of more facets of the community and to tell compelling stories across multiple media. He's excited to continue the same ethic — news as a public service — at NYPR as the New Jersey and suburbs editor, drawing on the extraordinary talents of reporters including Karen Yi and Nancy Solomon. Lou lives in Philly (that commute!) with his partner and their two cats, about whom and about which he speaks incessantly.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
NYPD searching for suspect after fatal stabbing in Queens
Officers responding to a call at the intersection of Jamaica Avenue and 173rd Street around 1 a.m. found 29-year-old Sulimon Ferrier, who had multiple stab wounds to his chest, police said.
By
Ben Feuerherd
Published Oct 3, 2026 at 4:38 p.m. ET
NYPD: 2 suspects in off-duty officer stabbing tried to rob victim
It’s unclear if the attackers knew the victim was NYPD.
By
Jill Webb
News
NYPD: 2 suspects in off-duty officer stabbing tried to rob victim
It’s unclear if the attackers knew the victim was NYPD.
By
Jill Webb
Astoria-born Chip City announces sudden closure days after former CEO sues
By
Catalina Gonella
US judge tosses Trump lawsuit targeting pro-Palestinian protesters in NJ
By
Willow Higgins
A big, bright Saturn will be the highlight of NYC's fall stargazing season
By
Rosemary Misdary
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .