The new year is ringing in with even more legal headaches for U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez following his 2023 indictment over allegations of engaging in a corrupt bribery scheme.

On Jan. 2, prosecutors from the Southern District of New York unsealed a second superseding indictment filed by a grand jury, which does not include any new charges but does lay out further allegations against the Garden State’s senior senator – accusing him of using his powerful post to help the Qatari government.

“From at least in or about December 2020 to at least in or about 2023, Robert Menendez, the defendant, accepted things of value from Fred Daibes, the defendant, knowing that Daibes expected Menendez in exchange to influence the pending federal prosecution of Daibes, and to use his influence and power to breach his official duty to benefit the Government of Qatar and Daibes,” prosecutors allege in the document. “Specifically, Menendez agreed to and did attempt to influence the pending federal prosecution of Daibes, in exchange for cash, furniture, and gold bars that Daibes provided to Menendez and Nadine Menendez, the defendant. Moreover, when he accepted at least certain of those things of value from Daibes, Menendez knew that Daibes also expected Menendez in exchange to take action to benefit the Government of Qatar, and thereby benefit Daibes, who was seeking millions of dollars in investment from a fund with ties to the Government of Qatar.”

That fund is the Qatari Investment Co.

Prosecutors allege that Menendez accepted cash and other bribes from Daibes and took several steps toward facilitating a real estate project in Edgewater that Daibes was pursuing – including introducing Daibes to an investor who was a member of the Qatari royal family and principal of the Qatari Investment Co. and making multiple public statements in support of the Qatari government and sharing them with Daibes, who passed them on to the Qatari investor and Qatari government official.

“The Qatari investor proceeded to consider and negotiate a multimillion-dollar investment into the real estate project,” according to prosecutors.

Some other notable details from the superseding indictment include: Menendez allegedly googling “how much is one of kilo of gold worth,” after being picked up by Daibes’ driver at the airport following a trip to Qatar and Egypt, a country he is charged with acting as an agent of in a previous superseding indictment; tickets to the 2022 Formula One Grand Prix in Miami provided to a relative of Nadine Menendez by the Qatari official; and more.

“In or about 2023, the Qatari Investment Company entered into a joint venture with a company controlled by Fred Daibes, the defendant, and invested tens of millions of dollars into the project,” the indictment continues. “Thereafter, Robert Menendez, the defendant, continued to receive things of value from the Qatari Investment Company. In particular, in or about May 2023, the Qatari Investor caused four tickets for the 2023 Formula One Grand Prix race held in Miami to be provided to the relative.”

Prosecutors note that none of these items or income were reported on Menendez’s annual Senate financial disclosure.

The superseding indictment also alleges that following a 2022 raid on Menendez’s home, the couple tried to cover up other bribes they are accused of accepting.

While Menendez stepped down from his post as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he has pushed back against calls to step down, many coming from some of the state’s most powerful Democrats – and as First Lady Tammy Murphy and Rep. Andy Kim, D-3^rd District, have thrown their hat into the primary for the Senate seat – which is on the ballot this year.

Menendez continues to maintain his innocence and fight the charges, to which he, his wife, and three co-defendants have pleaded not guilty. This superseding indictment marks the second significant development in this case in just the past few days. Just before the calendar flipped on Dec. 28, U.S. District Judge Sidney Stein shot down a request by Menendez’s legal team to push by two months the start of his trial – which is scheduled to begin on May 6.

In a statement to NJBIZ, Adam Fee, counsel to the senator, said that the government’s new allegations amounted to desperation.

“Despite what they’ve touted in press releases, the government does not have the proof to back up any of the old or new allegations against Senator Menendez. What they have instead is a string of baseless assumptions and bizarre conjectures based on routine, lawful contacts between a senator and his constituents or foreign officials,” Fee told NJBIZ. “They are turning this into a persecution, not a prosecution.”

Fee continued – saying that at all times, Menendez has acted entirely appropriately with respect to Qatar, Egypt and the many other countries he routinely interacts with.

“Those interactions were always based on his professional judgement as to the best interests of the United States because he is, and always has been, a patriot,” said Fee. “This latest indictment only exposes the lengths to which these hostile prosecutors will go to poison the public before a trial even begins. But these new allegations don’t change a thing, and their theories won’t survive the scrutiny of the court or a jury.”

An attorney for Daibes had no comment regarding the new allegations.