US businessman admits to bribing former senator’s wife with luxury car in corruption case

CBS News has published an article about the trial of Nadine Menendez, the wife of convicted former Senator Bob Menendez, which took a dramatic turn as a New Jersey businessman testified that he bribed the couple with a luxury Mercedes-Benz. Caliber.Az reprints the article.

The trial of Nadine Menendez, wife of convicted ex-Sen. Bob Menendez, continued with testimony from a New Jersey businessman who claims he bribed the couple with a Mercedes-Benz. 

Jose Uribe, who took a plea deal in the bribery scandal, testified he bought the luxury car for the former senator's wife in exchange for his power. Menendez's trial resumed on April 7 after several days off because she felt under the weather. It was previously postponed while she underwent treatment for breast cancer. 

She wore a pink facemask and a breast cancer awareness pin to court and took notes as Uribe took the stand.  "Have you ever committed federal crimes?" prosecutors asked him.  "Yes, I have," Uribe said.  "Does that include bribing a public official?" prosecutors asked.  "Senator Robert Menendez," he replied.  Uribe said the luxury car was in exchange for Menendez's husband's power to try and get state prosecutors to drop criminal cases against his friend and associate. 

The bribe was a Mercedes-Benz "for Nadine Menendez," he testified. "Nadine is the one person that can get me in touch with Senator Menendez."  

Menendez, the former senator, has not yet attended his wife's trial, which may be because he's on the defense team's list of potential witnesses. 

In a court filing, defense attorneys wrote, "Robert Menendez: If we call him, would testify about every aspect of the indictment as it relates to his wife, as well as his relationship with her and her character and reputation for truthfulness."  FBI agents who searched the Menendez home found cash and gold bars, which prosecutors allege were bribes for other corrupt acts, such as protecting a monopoly over meat exported to Egypt and passing sensitive information to Egyptian officials. 

The ex-senator was previously sentenced to 11 years in prison, real estate developer Fred Daibes got seven years and Wael Hana, an entrepreneur originally from Egypt, got eight years.   

During this trial's opening statements, prosecutors said Nadine Menendez "did the dirty work," that she communicated with bribe payers, passed messages to the senator and collected most of the bribes. She pleaded not guilty. The trial resumes on April 8. 

By Naila Huseynova