Nadine Menendez Convicted in Bribery Scheme Involving Former Senator Husband

Nadine Menendez, the wife of former US Senator Bob Menendez, has been found guilty on all 15 counts she faced, including bribery, honest services wire fraud, and conspiracy for a public official to act as a foreign agent, Al Jazeera reports.

The conviction stems from her alleged involvement in a scheme to accept hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes in exchange for leveraging her husband’s influence to benefit Egyptian officials and New Jersey businessmen.

The verdict was delivered on Monday in Manhattan, following a three-week trial. US District Judge Sidney Stein is scheduled to sentence the 58-year-old Nadine Menendez on June 12.

This conviction comes on the heels of Bob Menendez’s own legal troubles. The former Senator, who represented New Jersey for 18 and a half years, was sentenced in January to 11 years in prison after being convicted in July on charges related to efforts to expedite Egypt’s access to US military aid and interfere in local prosecutions of businessmen, all in exchange for bribes that included gold, cash, and a Mercedes-Benz. The 71-year-old Bob Menendez resigned from the Senate following his conviction.

Prosecutors presented evidence outlining the timeline of the relationship between Nadine and Bob Menendez, beginning in early 2018 and continuing even after criminal charges were filed against them in September 2023. Nadine Menendez’s trial was initially postponed due to her need for breast cancer treatment.

The prosecution argued that New Jersey businessman Wael Hana facilitated meetings between Senator Menendez and Egyptian officials, who sought his support for military aid. In return, Hana allegedly placed Nadine Menendez on the payroll of a company he controlled. Hana was convicted alongside Bob Menendez and received a sentence of just over eight years in prison.

Prosecutors also asserted that Hana and Nadine Menendez acted as conduits, relaying requests and directives from Egyptian officials to the Senator.

Another defendant, businessman Fred Daibes, was also convicted and sentenced to seven years in prison. Prosecutors stated that Daibes sought the Senator’s assistance in protecting him from a criminal case he was facing in New Jersey.

Furthermore, the couple allegedly received a Mercedes-Benz from businessman Jose Uribe in exchange for Bob Menendez’s efforts to pressure the New Jersey attorney general’s office to halt an investigation into some of Uribe’s associates.

Bob Menendez is noted as the first US Senator in the nation’s history to be convicted of acting as a foreign agent.