Sen. Robert Menendez spent years helping the Egyptian-American imam behind the controversial Ground Zero mosque, a plan the embattled Democrat later championed.
Menendez, 69, was indicted Friday on federal bribery charges, along with his wife, for schemes that allegedly benefited the government of Egypt and three New Jersey businessmen.
Starting in 1989, when the senator was mayor of Union City, New Jersey, Menendez allegedly secured more than $2 million in public cash and loans for Egyptian-American imam Feisal Abdul Rauf.
The funds were reportedly intended to renovate three low-income apartment buildings Rauf owned there, buildings that tenants complained remained dilapidated for years after receiving the money.
At the same time, Rauf was in business with developer Fred Daibes, Menendez’s political benefactor who allegedly bribed him with gold bars and cash, and who was named Menendez’s co-defendant on Friday.
New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez is under federal indictment for alleged corruption.AP
New Jersey developer Fred Daibes, a longtime ally of Menendez, is accused of showering the senator with cash and gold bars to help him with his business dealings.
Prosecutors in the Southern District of New York say they found Daibes’ gold bars in the home Menendez shares with his wife Nadine. Steven Hirsch
Rauf is not named in the federal indictment against Menendez and has not been charged with any crime.
In 2010, when controversy erupted over Rauf’s plans to build an Islamic center and mosque two blocks from the World Trade Center site, Menendez applauded the proposed 13-story structure.
What we know about the Bob Menéndez accusation
New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez faces federal corruption charges related to an alleged multi-year scheme.
Menendez allegedly accepted bribes, including gold bars, in exchange for helping three businessmen, Wael Hana, José Uribe and Fred Daibes, and the country of Egypt, according to officials.
Menendez and his wife, Nadine, were accused of accepting hundreds of thousands of bribes, according to a Manhattan federal indictment.
When the feds raided Menendez’s Englewood Cliffs home in June 2022, they found a 2019 Mercedes C-Class, at least 13 gold bars and $566,000 in cash “stuffed in envelopes.” Another $70,000 in cash was found in Nadine’s safe deposit box.
Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and his wife, Nadine Menendez, were indicted on federal corruption charges.AP
The feds say Menendez also received mortgage payments and paid for a low- or no-support job and home furnishings.
This is not the first time the 69-year-old Democrat has faced federal corruption charges. In 2015, Menendez was accused of accepting gifts from Florida eye surgeon Salomon Melgen.
The “gifts” included a vacation to Paris, flights on a private jet, and a vacation to Melgen’s villa in the Dominican Republic.
“With the passions at play and the Republicans’ attempts to politicize it, there would never have been a good time,” Menéndez said in defense of his former ally’s project. “Sometimes leading is reminding our fellow citizens what the Constitution is all about.”
Egyptian-American imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, who attempted to build a controversial mosque near the World Trade Center site, was a longtime business partner of Daibes and received public money from Menendez.REUTERS
Rauf’s prayer space, school and recreation center, which met with fierce opposition from many of those who lost family members in the attack on the Twin Towers, was never built. It was unclear whether Menendez derived any personal benefit from his support of Rauf’s plans.
Calls and emails to Rauf were not returned Saturday. Menendez did not respond to a request for comment. An attorney representing Daibes did not respond to a request for comment.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn