Federal prosecutors on Tuesday unsealed an updated indictment against New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez which accuses the longtime Democratic lawmaker of accepting gifts in exchange for aiding Qatar.

What You Need To Know

  • An updated indictment accuses New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez of accepting gifts in exchange for aiding Qatar

  • The rewritten indictment alleges that Menendez introduced a member of the Qatari royal family and principal in a company with ties to the government of Qatar to a New Jersey businessman before the company invested millions of dollars in the businessman's real estate project

  • No new charges were added against Menendez, who already faces charges that he took bribes of cash, a luxury car and gold bars in exchange for aiding a trio of New Jersey businessmen and advancing the causes of the government of Egypt; he pleaded not guilty to those last year

  • According to the indictment, Menendez accepted cash and gold bars in exchange for seeking to induce the Qatari Investment Co. to invest with Daibes, including by taking actions favorable to the government of Qatar

The rewritten indictment alleges that Menendez introduced a member of the Qatari royal family and principal in a company with ties to the government of Qatar to a New Jersey businessman before the company invested millions of dollars in the businessman's real estate project. 

No new charges were added against Menendez, who already faces charges that he took bribes of cash, a luxury car and gold bars in exchange for aiding a trio of New Jersey businessmen and advancing the causes of the government of Egypt. Menendez and his co-defendants in the case have pleaded not guilty to those charges. The allegations involving Qatar occurred from 2021 through 2023, the indictment said.

The latest version of the indictment against the Democrat in Manhattan federal court did not identify the member of the Qatari royal family, but it said the individual was a principal of the Qatari Investment Co.

The indictment said the Qatari investor then considered and negotiated a multimillion-dollar investment in the real estate project planned by Fred Daibes, one of three businessmen charged in the indictment along with the senator and his wife. All of them have pleaded not guilty.

According to the indictment, Menendez accepted cash and gold bars in exchange for seeking to induce the Qatari Investment Co. to invest with Daibes, including by taking actions favorable to the government of Qatar.

The indictment said that while the Qatari Investment Co. was considering its investment in the real estate development owned by Daibes, Menendez made multiple public statements supporting the government of Qatar and then provided them to Daibes so he could share them with the Qatari investor and a Qatari government official.

"Menendez provided Daibes with these statements so that Daibes could share them with the Qatari Investor and a Qatari government officials associated with the Qatari Investment Company," the indictment reads.

Adam Fee, a lawyer for Menendez, said in a statement that the new allegations “stink of desperation.”

“Despite what they’ve touted in press releases, the government does not have the proof to back up any of the old or new allegations against Senator Menendez. What they have instead is a string of baseless assumptions and bizarre conjectures based on routine, lawful contacts between a Senator and his constituents or foreign officials. They are turning this into a persecution, not a prosecution,” he said.

"At all times, Senator Menendez acted entirely appropriately with respect to Qatar, Egypt, and the many other countries he routinely interacts with. Those interactions were always based on his professional judgment as to the best interests of the United States because he is, and always has been, a patriot. This latest Indictment only exposes the lengths to which these hostile prosecutors will go to poison the public before a trial even begins. But these new allegations don’t change a thing, and their theories won’t survive the scrutiny of the court or a jury,” Fee added.

Tim Donohue, a lawyer for Daibes, said he had no immediate comment.

According to the indictment, Menendez accepted cash and gold bars in exchange for seeking to induce the Qatari fund to invest with Daibes, including by taking actions favorable to the government of Qatar.

The indictment said that while the Qatari Investment Co. was considering its investment in the real estate development owned by Daibes, Menendez made multiple public statements supporting the government of Qatar and then provided them to Daibes so he could share them with the Qatari investor and a Qatari government official.

In one August 2021 instance, the indictment said, Menendez used an encrypted messaging application to send Daibes the text of a press release in which he praised the government of Qatar, before texting Daibes: “You might want to send to them. I am just about to release.”

Two months later, Menendez and his wife returned from a trip to Qatar and Egypt and were picked up at the airport by Daibes' driver, the indictment said. The next day, it added, Menendez performed an internet search for “how much is one kilo of gold worth.”

The Qatari Investment Co. signed a letter of intent to enter a joint venture with a company controlled by Daibes in May 2022, the indictment said. Thereafter, it added, Daibes gave Menendez at least one gold bar.

A search of Menendez's residence produced two 1-kilogram gold bars and nine 1-ounce gold bars with serial numbers showing they'd previously been possessed by Daibes, along with about 10 envelopes of cash with tens of thousands of dollars bearing the fingerprints or DNA of Daibes, the indictment said.

The indictment said Menendez did not report any of the cash or gold received by himself or his spouse as required for a U.S. senator on annual financial disclosure forms.