The American Senator, the main Armenian and Greek lobbyist Robert Menendes is under the federal criminal investigation, ABC News reports citing sources. The senator adviser confirmed the information.
According to sources, the investigation is carried out by the Federal Prosecutor’s Office of Manhattan. The exact nature of the investigation is not clear. The representative of the US prosecutor’s office in the Southern District of New York refused to comment, as well as representatives of the FBI.
Robert Menendes, who is the chairman of the Senate Committee on International Relations, was accused of corruption in 2015 because of his relationship with the ophthalmologist Salomon Melgen. The prosecutor’s office then accused Menendes of receiving donations for an election campaign in the amount of about $ 1 million and generous gifts. The investigation believed that due to fraud with state medical insurance, taxpayers were deceived by at least $ 9 million. The senator was also accused of criminal encouragement of Melgen’s interests in the supply of port equipment for the Dominican Republic. Sources of the American media claimed that manager was trying to achieve free equipment for equipment on the American border. He did not plead guilty, in 2018 the charges were removed from him.