A federal grand jury has filed a second superseding indictment against Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., following previous allegations of accepting bribes.
The new allegations say Menendez made positive statements about Qatar to help a New Jersey developer get a multibillion-dollar investment from a company tied to the country. The developer cited in the indictment is Fred Daibes, who has also been charged in the case.
During the time of the discussions in late 2021 into 2022 for the investment in the deal, Menendez allegedly made a number of statements supportive of Qatar.
“Menendez provided Daibes with these statements so that Daibes could share them with the Qatari Investor and a Qatari government official associated with the Qatari Investment Company,” the indictment says.
Prosecutors allege that Daibes exchanged text messages with Menendez about the alleged scheme. In September 2021, Daibes sent Menendez, via an encrypted app, photos taken from Daibes’ computer of luxury watches valued from $9,990 to $23,990 and asked Menendez “how about one of those,” according to prosecutors.
NBC News has reached out to Menendez’s office for comment on the new allegations.
Menendez and Daibes have both pleaded not guilty in the case. Prosecutors alleged in an indictment in September that Menendez and his wife used his influence to pocket hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes, including “cash, gold bars, payments toward a home mortgage, compensation for a low-or-no-show job, a luxury vehicle and other items of value.”
The new indictment indicates that federal prosecutors reviewed web searches by Menendez after he returned from a trip to Qatar in October 2021 where they allege Menendez searched, “how much is one kilo of gold worth.”
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
