US Senator Robert Menendez has been indicted for allegedly accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes, according to a media report citing US Justice Department on Saturday.
BBC reported Prosecutors say Mr Menendez and his wife accepted gold bars and envelopes of cash from New Jersey businessmen.
The senator and his wife accepted the money to secretly aid the Egyptian government, prosecutors allege.
Both Menendez and his wifehave vehemently denied the charges.
The pair each face three criminal counts: conspiracy to commit bribery, conspiracy to commit honest services fraud, and conspiracy to commit extortion under color of official right.
The indictment comes after a years-long Justice Department investigation.
Prosecutors allege Mr Menendez and his wife Nadine accepted bribes of cash, gold, payments toward a home mortgage and a luxury vehicle from three New Jersey men: Wael Hana, Jose Uribe and Fred Daibes.
In addition to helping the Egyptian government, they also took the bribes to use Mr Menendez’s power as a senator to protect the three businessmen, according to the indictment.
Mr Menendez, 69, is the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations committee and was elected to a third term in the Senate in 2018.
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