(New York) American Senator Robert Menendez, already charged with corruption and influence peddling for the benefit of Egypt, is now accused of similar acts for the benefit of Qatar, according to a court document released Tuesday.
Federal justice accuses him of having facilitated a Qatari investment in a real estate project in New Jersey, near New York, in exchange for bribes.
According to the indictment, Robert Menendez made “several public statements supporting the government of Qatar”, statements which he hastened to send to the developer of the real estate project for the latter to share with his Qatari contacts.
He also allegedly introduced this promoter, Fred Daibes, to a member of the Qatari royal family, one of the directors of the investment company.
The 70-year-old Democratic senator allegedly accepted and received, with his wife, “hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes,” including gold bars, large sums of cash and other valuable goods, according to federal prosecutors in Manhattan, who brought together the already known file linked to Egypt with this new component involving Qatar.
In September, the elected official completely denied the previous accusations, rejecting calls for his resignation. However, he had given up the presidency of the powerful Senate Foreign Affairs Committee.
The politician of Cuban origin, an old hand in politics, had already pleaded not guilty at the end of September to the previous accusations. A trial is scheduled to begin on May 6.
This is not the first time that the rich gas emirate has been cited in this type of affair. At the end of 2022, “Qatargate” splashed the European Parliament, with accusations of “corruption” involving “a Gulf country”, very quickly identified as Qatar, suspected of “influencing the economic and political decisions” of European deputies .