The price of halal meat exports skyrocketed after Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) helped give one company, led by a Coptic Christian, a monopoly in the market, a government witness testified Friday.
James Bret Tate, a U.S. diplomat based in Cairo, told a Manhattan federal jury how halal meat certification ended up in the hands of a single company run by Menendez’s friend and co-defendant Wael Hana. The meat market had been operated by several companies in the past, which kept prices stable, but after Hana took over, prices jumped.
Tate testified the cost of certifying a container the size of an 18-wheel truck carrying 23 tons of meat rose from $200-$400 a container to more than $5,000 for the same service after Hana’s company gained its monopoly, the Associated Press reported.
“The fee increased drastically,” Tate said.
He added that he had been trying to increase the number of companies that could certify the meat and export to Egypt but was stopped in his tracks and informed it would all be going through one company.
Halal meat adheres to Islamic law as defined in the Koran and involves a specific form of slaughtering animals.
Tate was the second witness to testify at a trial that began Monday with jury selection that stretched into three days.
The government alleges that Menendez and his wife, Nadine, accepted bribes from Hana and New Jersey luxury real estate developer Fred Daibes. In exchange, Menendez greased the wheels in deals that benefited Hana, the governments of Egypt and Qatar, and used his considerable clout to get unrelated criminal charges against Daibes dropped.
Hana and Daibes are on trial with the senator, have separate lawyers, and have pleaded not guilty.
They claim they did nothing wrong and that the gifts, which included gold bars, furniture, and a Mercedes Benz convertible, were all ethically sound.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
The longtime lawmaker, who was forced to step down from his role as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee after he was arrested and charged, faces 16 felony counts. His wife, Nadine Menendez, faces 15.
The trial is expected to last seven weeks.
