A lawyer for Egyptian businessman Wael Hanna (40) commented that he returned from Egypt to “prove his innocence”. The case, which has been highlighted by US media in the past days since the indictment was released, is a federal case against Hanna and two other businessmen.
Hannah, who is of Egyptian descent, was married Tuesday morning to John F. After being arrested at Kennedy International Airport, he voluntarily returned to the United States from Egypt. His lawyer said he had come to plead against the charges.
On Tuesday afternoon, Hanna pleaded not guilty before federal judge Ona Wang in the District of Manhattan, and the judge ordered her released on $5 million personal recognizance and strict conditions, including surrendering her passport and wearing a GPS tracking device. According to the New York Times.
The newspaper said Hanna sat next to her lawyer, Lawrence Lustberg, and other members of her legal team during the session, while the three plaintiffs sat at another table.
The lawyer said in a statement to the network “CBS News” Hanna “voluntarily returned from Egypt so that he would have the opportunity to prove his innocence, which we hope will happen after a thorough and fair trial.”
Menendez, Nadine and businessmen Jose Uribe and Fred Daibes are scheduled to appear in federal court Wednesday at approximately 10:30 a.m. EST to face charges.
Prosecutors say Hanna arranged meetings between Menendez and Egyptian officials in 2018 and pressured the senator to sign Washington’s freeze on military aid from Egypt over concerns about the country’s human rights record.
In return, Hanna put Menendez’s wife, Nadine, on the payroll of the company she runs, which has the exclusive right to certify halal meat shipped from the United States to Egypt, prosecutors said.
Details of the grand scheme.. Who is the Egyptian Wale Hanna accused in Senator Menendez’s case?
An indictment issued by prosecutors in New York state points to the involvement of an Egyptian businessman living in New Jersey, near New York, in the fraud and bribery of prominent US Senator Bob Menendez and his wife, Nadine. Menendez.
Menendez “covertly abused his power for the benefit of Egypt,” the indictment said.
Menendez allegedly received hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes for Menendez and his wife Nadine, including gold bars, money and a luxury convertible, for the benefit of Wale Hanna, Jose Uribe, Farid Taibs and the Egyptian government.
Hanna, who lives in Edgewater, New Jersey, has been charged along with two other businessmen with conspiracy to commit bribery, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison, and one count of conspiracy to commit “honest services fraud.” 20 years in prison, according to a statement released by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.
Hanna spokeswoman Amelia Folk said in an email reported by the New York Daily News that the allegations were “totally without merit” and that the company “earned its right to halal certification without any assistance from Senator Menendez or any other US government.” official.” “There is no evidence that the contract was awarded based on bribery or corruption in Egypt.”
In another response, reported by the New Jersey Globe website, he said, “Cars, apartments, money, jewelry… in exchange for any kind of preferential treatment, are completely unsubstantiated.”
He took refuge in America during the Lebanon War.. Who is Menendez’s wife?
Nadine Arslanian’s name is at the top of an indictment issued by prosecutors in the US state of New York, accusing her of “covertly abusing her power for the benefit of Egypt” along with her husband, prominent US Senator Bob Menendez.
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