Pro-Armenian US Senator Menendez facing new charges

Pro-Armenian US Senator Bob Menendez and his spouse are now facing additional charges, Azernews reports with reference to US media.

The indictment outlines that Menendez assisted a New Jersey entrepreneur in securing investments from a Qatari firm affiliated with the government of a Middle Eastern nation.

Menendez is facing four charges, including conspiracy to commit bribery, fraud related to private services, extortion, and acting as a foreign agent.

The senator and his wife, Nadine, stand accused of receiving gold and Formula One race tickets in exchange for supporting businessman Fred Daibes in negotiations for a multimillion-dollar investment in a real estate project in New Jersey.

According to the indictment, in June 2021, Menendez introduced Daibes to a member of the Qatari royal family overseeing an investment company.

Prosecutors claim that Menendez publicly endorsed Qatar and, in August 2021, facilitated Daibes' preview of a press release praising the country's government.

In an encrypted message, Menendez reportedly advised Daibes, "You might want to send them a message," according to the indictment.

By May 2022, an undisclosed Qatari company allegedly signed a letter of intent to establish a joint venture with Daibes' company, according to prosecutors.

Prosecutors further contend that Menendez received rewards, with a Qatari official gifting Nadine Menendez's relative tickets to a Formula One race in Miami in May 2022, and Daibes presenting Menendez with a gold bar.

Later that month, after dining with his wife and Daibes, the senator purportedly conducted a Google search for the "price per kilogram of gold," as asserted by prosecutors.

Daibes and Nadine Menendez also face charges but have entered pleas of not guilty.