bribery

NEW YORK — Former U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez’s wife told a judge that her husband was “not the man I thought he was” before she was sentenced Thursday to 4½ years in prison for selling the powerful New Jersey politician’s influence in exchange for bribes of cash, gold bars and a luxury car.

U.S. District Judge Sidney H. Stein sentenced Nadine Menendez, 58, after she was convicted in April of colluding from 2018-23 with her husband, the former Democratic chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, in a variety of corrupt schemes, some involving assisting the Egyptian government.

Sobbing as she addressed the judge shortly before she was sentenced, Nadine Menendez described her husband as a manipulative liar.

“I put my life in his hands and he strung my like a puppet,” she said. “The blindfold is off. I now know he’s not my savior. He’s not the man I thought he was.”

Stein told the defendant that she wasn’t the person she was portrayed as during last year’s trial of her husband and two New Jersey businessmen, when the judge said she was painted “as manipulative, hungry for money and the true force behind the conspiracies.”

But he said she also wasn’t the “innocent observer of what was happening around you,” as she was portrayed by her lawyer at her trial.

“You knew what you were doing. Your role was purposeful,” he said.

When she spoke, Nadine Menendez partly blamed her husband, saying she was duped by his power and stature and that she felt compelled to do whatever he wanted, such as calling or meeting with certain people.

“I would never have imagined someone of his ranking putting me in this position,” she said, though she acknowledged that in retrospect, she was a grown woman and should have known better.

Before the hearing, Bob Menendez submitted a letter to the judge saying he regretted that he didn’t fully preview what his lawyer said about his wife during his trial and in closing arguments.

“To suggest that Nadine was money hungry or in financial need, and therefore would solicit others for help, is simply wrong,” he wrote.

In addition to prison time, Stein sentenced Nadine Menendez to three years of supervised release. He said he granted her leniency in part because of the trial she endured, her difficult childhood in Lebanon, her abusive romantic partners, her health conditions and her age.

Stein said a prison term was important for general deterrence purposes: “People have to understand there are consequences.”

Nadine Menendez won’t have to surrender to prison until next summer. Stein set a reporting date of July 10, accommodating a defense request that she be allowed to remain free to complete necessary medical procedures before she heads behind bars. Federal prosecutors did not object to the request.

Prosecutors had sought a prison sentence of at least seven years.

Her lawyer, Sarah Krissoff, asked that she serve only a year behind bars, citing her difficult recovery from breast cancer, which was diagnosed just before last year’s trial, when she was to be tried along with her husband. She ended up being tried separately.

Bob Menendez, 71, is serving an 11-year sentence after his conviction on charges of taking bribes, extortion, and acting as an agent of the Egyptian government.

Prosecutors say Nadine Menendez played a large and crucial role in her husband’s crimes, serving as an intermediary between the senator and three New Jersey businessmen who literally lined his coat pockets with tens of thousands of dollars in cash in return for favors he could deliver with his political clout.

During a 2022 FBI raid on the couple’s New Jersey home, investigators found $480,000 in cash, gold bars worth an estimated $150,000 and a luxury convertible in the garage.

Prosecutors said that, among his other corrupt acts, the senator met with Egyptian intelligence officials and speeded that country’s access to U.S. military aid as part of a complex effort to help his bribe-paying associates, one of whom had business dealings with the Egyptian government.

Sisak and Neumeister write for the Associated Press.

Former prime minister and the wife of ex-president Yoon Suk-yeol both indicted on separate charges on the same day.

South Korean prosecutors in separate cases have indicted former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo for aiding and abetting former President Yoon Suk-yeol’s short-lived imposition of martial law last year, and the ex-president’s wife, Kim Keon-hee, for bribery and other charges.

The charges were laid against Han, 76, on Friday, according to South Korea’s Yonhap news agency. Additional charges include perjury and falsifying official documents.

Han had been under investigation by a team of special prosecutors for several weeks, according to media reports.

Former First Lady Kim was also indicted on charges stemming from her alleged participation in a stock manipulation scheme and acceptance of gifts from the controversial Unification Church, among other activities.

Lawyers for Kim have denied the allegations against her and said news reports about some of the gifts she allegedly received were groundless speculation.

Assistant special counsel Park Ji-young told a televised briefing that Han was the highest official who could have blocked Yoon’s attempt to impose martial law.

Park said Han still played an “active” role in Yoon’s martial law declaration by trying to get Yoon’s decree passed through a Cabinet Council meeting as a way to give “procedural legitimacy” to it.

Han has maintained that he conveyed to Yoon that he opposed his martial law plan.

Kim and her ex-president husband have been arrested and are in jail, with Yoon already undergoing trial on charges that include insurrection for his attempt to impose military rule.

His wife had been the subject of numerous high-profile scandals, some dating back more than 15 years, which overshadowed his turbulent presidency and inflicted political damage on him and his conservative People Power Party (PPP).

Yoon was formally impeached in April.

Former Prime Minister Han stepped in twice to serve as acting president during the post-martial law chaos between December and May, but he later resigned to participate in South Korea’s presidential election.

He failed, however, to secure the candidacy for the PPP.

The June 3 election was later won by the liberal Democratic Party’s Lee Jae-myung, who had livestreamed himself climbing over the walls of South Korea’s National Assembly to vote down the martial law declared by Yoon.

Aug. 22 (UPI) — A former chief adviser to New York Mayor Eric Adams has been charged with accepting more than $75,000 in bribes in what the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office describes as “a wide-ranging series of bribery conspiracies.”

The Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, announced Thursday four separate indictments against Ingrid Lewis-Martin, charging her with four fourth-degree conspiracy counts and four second-degree counts of receiving bribes for perpetrating schemes that leveraged her former position in Adams’ office.

“We allege that Ingrid Lewis-Martin engaged in classic bribery conspiracies that had a deep and wide-ranging impact on city government,” Bragg said in a statement.

“Hardworking city employees were undermined, businesses and developers who followed the law were pushed aside and the public was victimized by corruption at the highest levels of government.”

The charges add to an indictment filed against her in December over allegedly receiving more than $100,000 from real estate advisers in exchange for influencing the Department of Buildings in their favor.

Like the December indictment, two of the four unveiled Thursday also charge her adult son, Glenn Martin II.

Prosecutors alleged in one of the indictments that of the $75,000 in bribes Lewis-Martin was paid, $50,000 was received by her son in cash from a diverted New York City contract as well as benefits. She also allegedly received the benefit of an appearance on a TV show.

That indictment alleges the mother-son pair conspired to steer contracts for asylum seeker shelter sites to developer Tian Ji Li’s preferred property owners, with Li allegedly receiving 10% of each contract.

One such contract involving a New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation allegedly netted Li $1.2 million.

The indictment also accuses Lewis-Martin of fast-tracking city approvals for V Show, a karaoke bar being developed by Li.

The second indictment alleges Lewis-Martin conspired to have the city withdraw its approval for a Brooklyn street redesign involving protected bike lanes on behalf of the owners of Broadway Stages. In exchange, Lewis-Martin allegedly received $2,500 and $10,000 in catering services.

Lewis-Martin, Martin II and Jessie Hamilton, deputy commissioner for Real Estate Services, were charged in the third indictment for fast-tracking development projects and steering city contracts in exchange for home renovations.

The final indictment only charges Lewis-Martin. That scheme allegedly saw her obtain approval for a residential renovation project in exchange for thousands of dollars in catering services.

“As charged, Ingrid Lewis-Martin influenced city agency decision making in a wide range of areas, from construction to street design, to serve the interests of co-defendants who paid her bribes,” Commissioner Jocelyn Strauber of the Department of Investigation said in a statement.

Strauber said she has notified relevant agencies and requested their review of permits and design determinations mentioned in the indictments.

Lewis-Martin was initially arrested and charged amid upheaval in Adams’ office last year, as the mayor was under federal investigation that led to him being charged with conspiracy in September.

The charges, however, were dismissed in April after the Justice Department moved to drop the case.

The wife of South Korea’s jailed former president, Yoon Suk Yeol, has been arrested over a raft of charges, including stock manipulation and bribery.

Former first lady Kim Keon Hee denied all charges during a four-hour court hearing in Seoul on Tuesday. But the court issued a detention warrant, citing the risk that she may destroy evidence.

South Korea has a history of former presidents being indicted and imprisoned. However, this is the first time both the former president and former first lady have been jailed.

Yoon was detained in January to face trial over a failed martial law bid last year that plunged the country into chaos and eventually led to his ouster.

Prosecutors say Kim, 52, made over 800 million won ($577,940; £428,000) by participating in a price-rigging scheme involving the stocks of Deutsch Motors, a BMW dealer in South Korea.

While this allegedly happened before her husband was elected the country’s leader, it continued to cast a shadow throughout his presidency.

“I sincerely apologise for causing trouble despite being a person of no importance,” Kim told reporters.

She allegedly also accepted two Chanel bags and a diamond necklace as bribes from the controversial Unification Church in exchange for business favours.

Among other charges, Kim is also accused of meddling in candidate nominations during the parliamentary by-elections in 2022 and the general elections last year.

Kim appeared solemn as she attended Tuesday’s hearing wearing a black suit and a black skirt.

“I sincerely apologise for causing trouble despite being a person of no importance,” she told reporters.

While he was president, Yoon vetoed three opposition-led bills that sought a special counsel investigation into allegations against Kim.

He issued the last veto in November, a week before he declared martial law.

A special counsel was set up in June this year after Yoon’s rival Lee Jae Myung became president.

July 28 (UPI) — Former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe Vélez was convicted Monday of bribing a witness and procedural fraud, following several hours of sentencing in a case that spanned more than a decade.

He is the first former head of state in Colombia to face a criminal conviction.

“It can be concluded, based on the prosecution’s findings, that the criminal offense of bribery was sufficiently proven,” Judge Sandra Liliana Heredia said as she read the verdict.

During his presidency, Uribe implemented a policy known as “Democratic Security,” which reduced kidnapping and homicide rates and supported the demobilization of paramilitary and guerrilla forces.

However, Uribe also faced sharp criticism over alleged human rights violations and the demobilization of paramilitary groups with impunity. His presidency was further overshadowed by the “false positives” scandal, in which thousands of civilians were killed by the military and falsely labeled as guerrilla fighters killed in combat.

According to the investigation, between 2012 and 2018, imprisoned paramilitaries were paid and pressured to change their testimony linking Uribe to illegal armed groups.

Sergio Escobar, executive director of the Medellín Global Center for Strategic International Studies, said the ruling is “the result of a series of legal missteps by the former president himself and comes amid an increasingly politicized climate. Now that he’s been convicted, an appeal will follow, which takes us into October — when the statute of limitations on this case expires. Regardless, he will no longer be able to claim he is innocent.”

The case began in 2012, when then-Sen. Álvaro Uribe filed a complaint against Sen. Iván Cepeda Castro, accusing him of witness tampering in an effort to link Uribe to illegal armed groups. But the investigation soon took an unexpected turn.

The Supreme Court of Justice, which initially investigated Cepeda, found evidence that individuals close to Uribe had offered financial, legal and administrative benefits to former paramilitaries and guerrilla fighters in exchange for testimony against Cepeda.

In that context, Uribe was charged with manipulating evidence and misleading the justice system to influence judges and secure rulings favorable to his interests — in the very investigation he had initiated against Cepeda.

“This conviction is a blow to his political career. At the same time, it sends a strong message about equality before the law — even for the most powerful figures in the country,” said José Francisco Salvo, an attorney and member of the NGO Derechos Ciudadanos.

He added that political polarization continues to shape the national response. “Some see the conviction as a victory for justice, while Uribe’s supporters view it as political persecution and an attack by the left,” Salvo said.

On Monday afternoon in a post on Twitter, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio decried the conviction.

“Former Colombian President Uribe’s only crime has been to tirelessly fight and defend his homeland,” Rubio tweeted. “The weaponization of Colombia’s judicial branch by radical judges has now set a worrisome precedent.”

July 15 (UPI) — As South Korea’s special prosecutor’s office expands its investigation into the Unification Church’s alleged political lobbying and financial misconduct, rising attention is turning to Won-joo Jung, deputy director of the Cheonmu Institute — the church’s top administrative body.

According to a report by The Hankyoreh, Jung is widely recognized as the de facto second-in-command, operating directly under church head Hak-ja Han.

In a notarized letter to church authorities, Young-ho Yoon, the former director-general of the church’s World Headquarters and now under investigation, named Jung in connection with the delivery of luxury gifts — including Chanel handbags and a Graff diamond necklace — to former First Lady Keon-hee Kim, wife of the recently impeached former President of South Korea Suk-yeol Yoon.

The gifts allegedly were funneled through Seong-bae Jeon, a spiritual figure known publicly as “Geonjin Beopsa.”

Yoon claimed to submit internal records linking Jung to the operation and requested that she face equivalent disciplinary action. His statement challenges the official church narrative that the gift transfer was merely an isolated case of individual misconduct.

The Hankyoreh reported that Jung, as deputy director of the Cheonmu Institute, is considered internally to be “the effective No. 2 figure in the church hierarchy,” suggesting she wields considerable influence over the organization’s strategy and finances.

Although subject to a travel restriction, Jung was granted permission to leave South Korea to visit her critically ill husband in the United States. It appears she has not yet returned from the United States to South Korea.

Meanwhile, in South Korea, there is ongoing investigation and growing public demands for accountability. Her prolonged absence amid escalating legal exposure has led to speculation that she may be avoiding potential legal consequences.

While she has not yet been formally indicted, prosecutors are believed to be examining her role in key decision-making processes and internal coordination, including allegations of document destruction tied to ongoing investigations.

Public scrutiny of Jung has intensified due to her close connections to major media outlets affiliated with the Unification Church. Her younger brother, Hee-taek Jung, is currently the president of Segye Ilbo (Segye Times), a South Korean daily owned by the church’s media arm. Jung’s husband’s younger brother is Tom McDevitt, the current chairman of The Washington Times, the U.S. newspaper funded by the church.

These family ties have raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest and the influence of internal media networks in shaping narratives surrounding the ongoing investigation.

Prosecutors have already executed search and seizure operations at the National Police Agency and Chuncheon Police Station on July 8, targeting communications and financial records tied to earlier church-related investigations.

While no formal indictments have been announced against Jung, Special Prosecutor Sang-jin Park confirmed — according to a DongA Ilbo report on July 8 — that his office is preparing to summon senior Unification Church figures, including Won-joo Jung and former World Headquarters director Young-ho Yoon, for questioning as part of its expanding investigation into alleged bribery, embezzlement, and obstruction of justice.

Though Hak-ja Han remains the public face of the Unification Church, insiders and former members describe Jung as a behind-the-scenes operator with sweeping authority over the church’s administration, finances, and crisis management. She has reportedly been involved in overseeing responses to allegations involving the misuse of church funds — some of which were allegedly spent on gambling trips in Las Vegas.

Her high-level authority, absence abroad, and looming summons suggest she may be a pivotal figure in unraveling the deeper structure of influence within the church’s leadership.

Jurors have reached a verdict on four of five counts against music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs, who is on trial in a New York federal courtroom, accused of racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation for prostitution.

The jury sent a note to the trial judge Tuesday afternoon stating they’d reached a verdict on several counts but were unable to reach a consensus on count one — racketeering. They will continue deliberating on that count in Manhattan starting Wednesday at 9 a.m.

Combs, 55, is charged under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, commonly referred to as RICO, which requires a defendant to be part of an enterprise involved in at least two overt criminal acts out of 35 offenses listed by the government.

He is also charged on two counts each of sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion and transportation to engage in prostitution in connection with two women — his former girlfriend Casandra “Cassie” Ventura and a woman identified in court only as Jane, also a former girlfriend.

The jury has reached a unanimous verdict on the four counts tied to Ventura and Jane but not on the racketeering count. Their verdict is not yet known. As Tuesday’s deliberations concluded, Combs was seen praying in the courtroom and looking morose, according to the Associated Press.

The impending verdicts are the culmination of a celebrity legal drama that has generated global attention and offered a graphic and often violent glimpse into the life of one of the nation’s most powerful music figures and his near billion-dollar enterprise. Jurors heard from three women, two former girlfriends and a personal assistant, who described mob-family-style racketeering with coercion, kidnapping, threats and beatings done to cover up a pattern of sexual assaults, sex trafficking and prostitution over decades.

During the seven-week trial, prosecutors portrayed Combs and his associates as luring female victims, often under the pretense of a romantic relationship. Once he had gained their interest, Combs allegedly used force, threats of force, coercion and controlled substances to get them to engage in sex acts with male prostitutes while he occasionally watched in gatherings that Combs referred to as “freak-offs.”

On the stand, witnesses testified that Combs gave the women ketamine, ecstasy and GHB to “keep them obedient and compliant” during the performances.

Jurors deliberated for more than 12 hours before reaching verdicts on several of the counts against Combs.

The racketeering charge alleged Combs’ Bad Boy Entertainment was like a mob family and criminal enterprise that threatened and abused women and utilized members of his enterprise to engage in a litany of crimes over the years including kidnapping, sex trafficking, bribery, arson, forced labor and obstruction of justice.

Though RICO cases are more typically associated with the mafia, street gangs or drug cartels, any loose association of two or more people is enough, like Combs’ entourage, said former federal prosecutor Neama Rahami. Prosecutors during the trial aimed to demonstrate a pattern of racketeering or two or more RICO predicate acts that occurred over 10 years. That’s why the evidence of bribery, kidnapping, obstruction, witness tampering and prostitution became key to the case.

Key to the government’s case was the testimony of three women: Combs’ onetime lover Ventura, whose 2023 lawsuit set off the unraveling of Combs’ enterprise and reputation; his most recent ex-girfriend, Jane; and his former assistant, only identified in court as Mia.

In the trial, Ventura testified she felt “trapped” in a cycle of physical and sexual abuse by Combs, and that the relationship involved years of beatings, sexual blackmail and a rape.

She claimed Combs threatened to leak videos of her sexual encounters with numerous male sex workers while drug-intoxicated and covered with baby oil as he watched and orchestrated the freak-offs.

One of those freak-offs led to an infamous hotel beating that was captured on hotel security cameras. Video footage from that March 2016 night shows Combs punching and kicking Ventura as she cowers and tries to protect herself in front of an L.A. hotel elevator bank. He then drags her down the hall by her hooded sweatshirt toward their hotel room.

A second angle from another camera captures Combs throwing a vase toward her. She suffered bruising to her eye, a fat lip and a bruise that prosecutors showed was still visible during a movie premiere two days later, where she wore sunglasses and heavy makeup on the red carpet.

In closing arguments, Assistant U.S. Atty. Christy Slavik told jurors Combs “counted on silence and shame” to enable and prolong his abuse and used a “small army” of employees to harm women and cover it up, according to the Associated Press.

Combs, he said, “doesn’t take no for an answer.”

When it came time for Combs’ defense team to present their case, they opted to move straight to closing arguments without presenting a witness. Rahami, the former federal prosecutor, said the defense expected jurors would question why those on the stand did not report the behavior to authorities at the time it was occurring and, in some cases, chose to stay in Combs’ orbit.

Marc Agnifilo, one of Combs’ lawyers, told jurors in closing that federal prosecutors “exaggerated” their case and sought to turn the hip-hop mogul’s swinger lifestyle into the most serious of federal offenses — racketeering and sex trafficking, without the evidence to back it up. In reality, Combs has a drug problem and his relationship with Ventura was a “modern love story” where the mogul “owns the domestic violence” that was revealed in the trial, Agnifilo said.

The death sentence has been removed from eight criminal offences in Vietnamese law and replaced with life imprisonment for offenders.

Vietnam will end capital punishment for eight categories of serious crime – including embezzlement, attempts to overthrow the government and sabotaging state infrastructure, state media has reported.

The state-run Vietnam News Agency reported on Wednesday that the country’s National Assembly unanimously passed an amendment to the Criminal Code that abolished the death penalty for eight criminal offences.

Starting from next month, people will no longer face a death sentence for bribery, embezzlement, producing and trading counterfeit medicines, illegally transporting narcotics, espionage, “the crime of destroying peace and causing aggressive war”, as well as sabotage and trying to topple the government.

The maximum sentence for these crimes will now be life imprisonment, the news agency said.

Those who were sentenced to death for capital offences before July 1, but have not yet been executed, will have their sentences commuted to life imprisonment, the report said.

The death penalty will remain for 10 other criminal offences under Vietnamese law, including murder, treason, terrorism and the sexual abuse of children, according to the report.

During a National Assembly debate on the proposed criminal code amendment last month, the issue of dropping the death sentence for drug trafficking was the most contentious.

“Whether it’s a few grammes or a few tonnes, the harm caused by drug transport is immense,” one legislator said, while another said removing the death sentence for drugs would send the wrong signal at a time when drug cases were increasing in the country.

Capital punishment data is a state secret in Vietnam and it is not known how many people are currently on death row in the country.

Execution by firing squad in Vietnam was abolished in 2011 and replaced by the administration of a lethal injection.

NEW YORK — Former U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez arrived at a federal prison on Tuesday to begin serving an 11-year sentence for accepting bribes of gold and cash and acting as an agent of Egypt. The New Jersey Democrat has been mocked for the crimes as “Gold Bar Bob,” according to his own lawyer.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons confirmed that Menendez was in custody at the Federal Correctional Institution, Schuylkill in Minersville, Pa. The facility has a medium-security prison and a minimum-security prison camp. Given the white-collar nature of his crimes, it’s likely he’ll end up in the camp.

The prison is about 118 miles west of New York City. It’s home to about 1,200 inmates, including ex-New York City organized crime boss James Coonan and former gas station owner Gurmeet Singh Dhinsa, whom the New York Post dubbed “Gas-Station Gotti” for his ruthless, violent ways.

Menendez, 71, maintains his innocence. Last week, a federal appeals court rejected his last-ditch effort to remain free on bail while he fights to get his bribery conviction overturned. A three-judge panel on the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied his bail motion.

Pleading for leniency, Menendez told a judge at his sentencing in January: “I am far from a perfect man. I have made more than my share of mistakes and bad decisions. I’ve done far more good than bad.”

Menendez has also appeared to be angling for a pardon from President Trump, aligning himself with the Republican’s criticisms of the judicial system, particularly in New York City.

“This process is political and it’s corrupted to the core. I hope President Trump cleans up the cesspool and restores the integrity to the system,” Menendez told reporters after his January sentencing.

In X posts that were made on Tuesday and later deleted, Menendez criticized prosecutors as politically motivated and opposed to his foreign policy views, and praised Trump for “rising above the law fare.”

Menendez resigned last year after he was convicted of selling his clout for bribes. FBI agents found $480,000 in cash in his home, some of it stuffed inside boots and jacket pockets, along with gold bars worth an estimated $150,000 and a luxury convertible in the garage.

In exchange, prosecutors said, Menendez performed corrupt favors for New Jersey business owners, including protecting them from criminal investigations, helping in business deals with foreign powers and meeting with Egyptian intelligence officials before helping Egypt access $300 million in U.S. military aid.

Menendez, who once chaired the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, resigned a month after his conviction. He had been in the Senate since 2006.

Two business owners were also convicted last year along with Menendez.

His wife, Nadine Menendez, was convicted in April of teaming up with her husband to accept bribes from the business owners. Her sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 11.

At his sentencing, Menendez’s lawyers described how the son of Cuban immigrants emerged from poverty to become “the epitome of the American Dream” — rising from mayor of Union City, N.J., to decades in Congress — before his conviction “rendered him a national punchline.”

“Despite his decades of service, he is now known more widely as Gold Bar Bob,” defense lawyer Adam Fee told the judge.

Sisak and Neumeister write for the Associated Press. AP reporter Michael Catalini in Trenton, N.J., contributed to this report.