The US Department of Justice is currently investigating Senator Bob Menedez’s receipt of luxury items in exchange for a company’s promotion in the field of halal meat certification.

The US Department of Justice is investigating who and for what provided New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez and his wife a Mercedes-Benz car, a luxurious apartment in the District of Columbia, cash, and other valuables.
The prime suspects in the bribery are the owners and partners of IS EG HALAL (Edgewater, New Jersey), which won a controversial exclusive contract to certify halal meat with the Egyptian government, despite the USDA complaining of the firm’s lacking of any experience in this field.

Senator Menendez

Senator Menendez, as required by political protocol, denies any wrongdoing and rather defiantly comments, “I am sure it is going to end up in absolutely nothing”. Menendez’s spokeswoman declined to comment on the fact that the couple had received gifts and referred to the senator’s previous statements in which he acknowledged the existence of an “inquiry” and that “should there be any official inquiries, the senator is available to provide any assistance requested of him or his office”.

According to an NBC source, the District Attorney of the Southern District of New York, Damian Williams, in cooperation with agents of the FBI and the Internal Revenue Service, are investigating the cause and effect of the case, namely the fact that the senator and his wife Nadine Arslanian received class gifts from IS EG HALAL suite, and whether the senator subsequently provided “paid” services. An important detail of investigations in the field of corruption (NABU, NACP, I highlight for you!) – the investigators must make sure that the above-mentioned valuables were recorded in time and in full in the tax filings of the senator and his wife. However, none of the items or funds were mentioned in the senator’s and his wife’s disclosure forms submitted to the Senate.

And another nail in the coffin of the senator’s reputation – Menendez is the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which helps oversee the billions of dollars allocated for aid … yes, including Egypt. So, if necessary, he had leverage on the government of an African country.

This reference is not particularly related to the topic of the article, but still. Last, we published an article about LGBT and legal business. And there, in particular, there is an example from behavioral economics about how minorities (consumers of halal meat) influence the majority:

Why lawyers support LGBTQ+

IS EG Halal

In 2019, the Egyptian government made IS EG Halal the only authorized importer of halal meat in the country. And it would be fine, but there were seven such companies before, and all of them lost millions of dollars after such a government decision due to the appointment of a firm from Edgewater, which, by the way, is managed by a Christian (in this context, this is something of a negative characteristic) with almost no international experience import and export of halal meat.

One US-based executive whose contract was abruptly terminated said the entire industry was “shocked, stunned, blindsided”.

“It defies logic,” observed Peter Paradis, former deputy assistant inspector general at the USDA.

And while Paradis plays no role in the current criminal investigation into the senator and his ties to IS EG Halal, he did say that according to previous reports from the USDA, IS EG Halal “And while Paradis plays no role in the current criminal investigation into the senator and his ties to IS EG Halal, he did say that according to previous reports from the USDA, IS EG Halal “has no preexisting relationship with the US beef industry or Islamic organizations”.

“This corporation has no track record of doing these types of certifications – and yet the country in question earmarks them as the sole entity to perform that task?” Paradis said.

Instead, Wael Hana’s press service denies all the information: “Allegations about cars, apartments, cash, and jewelry being provided by anyone associated with IS EG Halal to Senator Menendez or his wife at all, let alone in exchange for any kind of favorable treatment, are totally without basis.”

The representative of IS EG Halal said the firm won the contract according to procedure and denied any wrongdoing: “IS EG Halal won without any assistance from the senator or any other U.S. public official. Nor is there any evidence whatsoever that the contract was awarded based upon bribery or corruption in Egypt – and nothing like that has ever even been alleged.”

Tellingly, a spokesman for the Egyptian embassy in Washington decided not to comment.

In light of the above allegations, the FBI is investigating whether any IS EG Halal executives or employees paid bribes to Egyptian officials.

“If representatives of this company were paying Egyptian officials for consideration, for favors, for an advantage in business, that’s a crime,” NBC News legal analyst Chuck Rosenberg said.

Further, another interesting detail emerges: the owner of the company, Wael Hana, has long had a friendly relationship with the senator’s wife, and, according to sources, this friendship existed long before Nadine Arslanian met the senator. Sources close to the parties say that Arslanian has been receiving gifts, including jewelry, from the owner of the company for many years.

That is, investigators will need to do painstaking work to prove the fact that Egyptian officials were aware of the connections between IS EG Halal and the senator’s wife and whether someone from the American side tried to conduct a foreign influence operation through Menendez, who serves as the chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations of the US Senate.

“A senator can certainly help somebody in his or her state,” Chuck Rosenberg said. “They can make connections. They can set up meetings. They can advocate for businesses within their jurisdictions. What they can’t do is take money or gifts in exchange for an official act.”

While US Attorney Damian Williams oversees this criminal investigation, and the FBI press service does not provide comments on the investigation, let’s pay attention to previous cases and their consequences.

In recent years, the US Supreme Court has issued a number of decisions that narrow the definition of public corruption. In 2018, Senator Menendez was acquitted of criminal charges after a corruption trial ended in a jury verdict. In that case, Senator Menendez was accused of accepting gifts and free flights on a private jet from convicted fraudster Salomon Melgen.

Daryna Vasianovych