From Fortune:

U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez faces an indictment alleging that he introduced a member of the Qatari royal family to a New Jersey businessman before the company invested millions in the businessman’s real estate project. The indictment claims that Menendez accepted cash and gold bars in exchange for seeking investments with the Qatari Investment Co.

This latest version in the indictment doesn’t identify the Qatari royal family member but says they were a principal of the Qatari Investment Co. The Qatari investor then considered a multimillion-dollar investment in a real estate project planned by Fred Daibes and negotiated said investment, according to the indictment. Daibes and the senator and his wife have pleaded not guilty to the charges.

No new charges were added in the indictment that already charged Menendez in a bribery conspiracy. The allegations involving Qatar occurred from 2021 through 2023. After his September arrest, the senator gave up his position as chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee but has refused calls to resign from his Senate seat.

The indictment claims 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 provided them to Daibes so he could share them with the Qatari investor and a Qatari government official.

Defense lawyers requested more time to prepare for the trial, which they said already includes over 6.7 million documents, but the judge refused to extend the May 5 trial date.



Read more: Sen. Bob Menendez faces more corruption accusations—this time involving a Qatari royal family member and gold bars