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A ‘VERY SHADY’ MEAT MONOPOLY IN EGYPT DOMINATES DAY IN MENENDEZ CORRUPTION TRIAL


PROSECUTORS SAY WAEL HANA BRIBED THE SENATOR TO HELP SECURE LUCRATIVE DEAL

BY: DANA DIFILIPPO - MAY 17, 2024 9:34 PM



Sen. Bob Menendez strides into the Daniel Patrick Moynihan federal courthouse in
Manhattan on Friday, May 17, 2024, the fifth day of his corruption trial. (Dana
DiFilippo | New Jersey Monitor)

On the fifth day of Sen. Bob Menendez’s bribery trial in Manhattan, the
Democrat’s name was barely mentioned, as federal prosecutors focused Friday on
showing how co-defendant Wael Hana landed a monopoly on exporting
halal-certified beef to Egypt.

Hana had no experience in that industry, no relationship with the beef industry
or Islamic organizations, and only one employee when Egyptian officials chose
his company IS EG Halal in 2019 to be their sole importer of such meat, U.S.
Department of Agriculture official James Bret Tate testified.

U.S. agricultural officials were so mystified by the abrupt decision and
Egyptian officials’ refusal to explain it that Tate reported his concerns to the
FBI, triggering an investigation, he told jurors.

“We were concerned about the relationship Mr. Hana had with Egyptian government
officials and how he had obtained the business,” Tate said.

Prosecutors have said Hana was a “failed businessman” who bribed Menendez and
his wife Nadine, one of Hana’s longtime friends, to help him secure the export
deal with Egypt. The senator did so, prosecutors contend, by pressuring alarmed
USDA officials to back off and by doing favors to benefit the Egyptian
government at Hana’s behest. Menendez’s actions included releasing millions of
U.S. dollars in military arms and aid to Egypt and revealing sensitive
information about staffing at the American embassy in Cairo, prosecutors allege.

The jury didn’t hear any of that Friday, though, as prosecutors focused on
backgrounding jurors on Hana’s involvement in Egypt and his monopoly’s impact on
U.S. trade.

Tate spent hours explaining the intricacies of halal beef certification, which
requires animals to be prayed over and killed in a certain, humane way in
adherence to the Muslim faith, as well as U.S. efforts to persuade officials in
Egypt — which imports over 70% of U.S. beef liver — to approve more certifiers.

Hana popped up out of nowhere in the spring of 2019, Tate told jurors.

Businessman Wael Hana secured a monopoly on providing halal-certified beef to
Egypt in 2019, spurring an investigation, a federal official testified Friday in
Sen. Bob Menendez’s corruption trial.(Photo by David Dee Delgado/Getty Images)



Tate was working at the time as an agricultural attache at the U.S. embassy in
Cairo when he organized a two-week trade mission for Egyptian agricultural
officials in the U.S. The goal was twofold — to persuade them to approve both
the U.S. food safety system and more halal certifiers to their existing roster
of four, Tate said. Together, the U.S. and Egyptian officials visited halal
certifiers at four slaughterhouses across middle America before returning to an
Arlington, Virginia, hotel, where the Egyptian officials were scheduled to meet
four more.

“My objective was to support U.S. companies,” Tate said.

Instead, Hana was waiting at the hotel and waylaid the Egyptian officials. It
was the first time Tate met him, and he didn’t know who he was.

In the days that followed, Hana appeared wherever the Egyptian officials went,
luring them away from other scheduled meetings and looking to participate in
their meetings with U.S. agricultural officials, Tate said. Hana’s attorney
accompanied them on at least one occasion, and both were so unfamiliar with how
halal certification worked they asked Tate to explain it to them.

Yet soon afterward, Egyptian officials notified American agricultural officials
that Hana would be their sole importer of halal-certified meat, Tate said.

The change roiled the market and the USDA, where officials warned the monopoly
would have damaging effects on both sides of the globe.

“It was in the U.S. interest to maintain free competition in the U.S. halal
market,” Tate testified. “Monopolies run counter to our economic interest and we
tend to oppose them, writ large.”

Before long, the damage became evident, he said.

Hana jacked up the weight-based fee charged for halal-certified beef exports
more than tenfold, from about $200 to $400 per shipping container to over $5,000
per container, Tate said. Typically, such costs are passed on to the consumer,
he added. And one of the four halal certifiers delisted by Egypt’s decision to
grant Hana a monopoly went out of business, Tate said.

The U.S. Meat Export Federation raised concerns that the shift would disrupt the
market because IS EG Halal didn’t have the staff or capacity to do the job, Tate
said.

“All the plants will either be: a) clamoring to get the services of the new
certifier; or b) refusing to do business with a totally unknown character,” a
federation representative wrote to U.S. agricultural officials. “The
circumstances around this are very shady, and I think many companies are going
to be reticent to do business with this group at all.”

But Egyptian officials would not agree to U.S. agricultural officials’ requests
for a meeting.

Egypt is among the countries that receives the most U.S. military aid in the
world, so such reluctance was unusual, Tate said.

“When the American embassy requests a meeting, we get meetings,” he said.

The monopoly was equally unusual, he added. Egypt is the only U.S. trading
partner that has just one authorized halal certifier, Tate said.

U.S. agricultural officials were so concerned about Hana’s maneuvers that Tate
penned a report they posted publicly to the USDA’s website entitled: “New
Egyptian Halal Procedures May Disrupt Markets, Drive Up Prices.”

Late Friday afternoon, prosecutors began to question Tate about a telephone call
Menendez made in 2019 to a top USDA official about Hana. That line of
questioning didn’t last long, though, as defense attorneys demanded a
conversation with Judge Sidney H. Stein out of jurors’ earshot.

Menendez attorney Adam Fee warned Stein that Tate’s comments about Menendez’s
call could be “deeply prejudicial” and asked him to limit what prosecutors could
ask, saying it wasn’t a case brought under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

“Can you stay away from the words ‘corrupt’ or ‘corruption?’” Stein asked
prosecutor Eli Mark.

As the debate grew heated and Fee railed about jurors “speculating through the
weekend,” Stein lost his patience and banged his fist on his desk.

“Mr. Fee! You wait, sir! Don’t interrupt!” he snapped.

Stein adjourned court for the day shortly afterward.

Testimony will resume Monday morning, with prosecutors expected to call several
witnesses including Joshua Paul, former director of the State Department’s
Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, which oversees U.S. defense diplomacy,
security assistance, and arms transfers to foreign governments.

The ongoing trial is the second corruption trial for New Jersey’s senior senator
in the past seven years. His first ended with a hung jury in 2017.



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DANA DIFILIPPO

Dana DiFilippo comes to the New Jersey Monitor from WHYY, Philadelphia’s NPR
station, and the Philadelphia Daily News, a paper known for exposing corruption
and holding public officials accountable. Prior to that, she worked at
newspapers in Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, and suburban Philadelphia and has
freelanced for various local and national magazines, newspapers and websites.
She lives in Central Jersey with her husband, a photojournalist, and their two
children. You can reach her at ddifilippo@newjerseymonitor.com.

New Jersey Monitor is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest
state-focused nonprofit news organization.

MORE FROM AUTHOR

RELATED NEWS

N.J. chief justice again urges against giving Senate power…by Nikita BiryukovMay
17, 2024
Gold bars in baggies and cash crammed in boots: Prosecutors…by Dana DiFilippoMay
16, 2024
Did he take bribes, or was he duped by his wife? Arguments…by Dana DiFilippoMay
15, 2024




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A ‘VERY SHADY’ MEAT MONOPOLY IN EGYPT DOMINATES DAY IN MENENDEZ CORRUPTION TRIAL

by Dana DiFilippo, New Jersey Monitor
May 17, 2024

<h1>A ‘very shady’ meat monopoly in Egypt dominates day in Menendez corruption
trial</h1> <p>by Dana DiFilippo, <a href="https://newjerseymonitor.com">New
Jersey Monitor</a> <br />May 17, 2024</p> <p>On the fifth day of Sen. Bob
Menendez’s bribery trial in Manhattan, the Democrat’s name was barely mentioned,
as federal prosecutors focused Friday on showing how co-defendant Wael Hana
landed a monopoly on exporting halal-certified beef to Egypt.</p> <p>Hana had no
experience in that industry, no relationship with the beef industry or Islamic
organizations, and only one employee when Egyptian officials chose his company
IS EG Halal in 2019 to be their sole importer of such meat, U.S. Department of
Agriculture official James Bret Tate testified.</p> <p>U.S. agricultural
officials were so mystified by the abrupt decision and Egyptian officials’
refusal to explain it that Tate reported his concerns to the FBI, triggering an
investigation, he told jurors.</p> <p>“We were concerned about the relationship
Mr. Hana had with Egyptian government officials and how he had obtained the
business,” Tate said.</p> <p>Prosecutors <a
href="https://newjerseymonitor.com/2023/09/26/experts-alarmed-by-claims-that-menendez-eased-military-aid-to-egypt/">have
said</a> Hana was a “failed businessman” who bribed Menendez and his wife
Nadine, one of Hana’s longtime friends, to help him secure the export deal with
Egypt. The senator did so, prosecutors contend, by pressuring alarmed USDA
officials to back off and by doing favors to benefit the Egyptian government at
Hana’s behest. Menendez’s actions included releasing millions of U.S. dollars in
military arms and aid to Egypt and revealing sensitive information about
staffing at the American embassy in Cairo, prosecutors allege.</p> <p>The jury
didn’t hear any of that Friday, though, as prosecutors focused on backgrounding
jurors on Hana’s involvement in Egypt and his monopoly’s impact on U.S.
trade.</p> <p>Tate spent hours explaining the intricacies of halal beef
certification, which requires animals to be prayed over and killed in a certain,
humane way in adherence to the Muslim faith, as well as U.S. efforts to persuade
officials in Egypt — which imports over 70% of U.S. beef liver — to approve more
certifiers.</p> <p>Hana popped up out of nowhere in the spring of 2019, Tate
told jurors.</p> <figure><a
href="https://newjerseymonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/GettyImages-1702322009.jpg"></a><i></i>
<em>Businessman Wael Hana secured a monopoly on providing halal-certified beef
to Egypt in 2019, spurring an investigation, a federal official testified Friday
in Sen. Bob Menendez’s corruption trial.(Photo by David Dee Delgado/Getty
Images)</em></p></figure> <p>Tate was working at the time as an agricultural
attache at the U.S. embassy in Cairo when he organized a two-week trade mission
for Egyptian agricultural officials in the U.S. The goal was twofold — to
persuade them to approve both the U.S. food safety system and more halal
certifiers to their existing roster of four, Tate said. Together, the U.S. and
Egyptian officials visited halal certifiers at four slaughterhouses across
middle America before returning to an Arlington, Virginia, hotel, where the
Egyptian officials were scheduled to meet four more.</p> <p>“My objective was to
support U.S. companies,” Tate said.</p> <p>Instead, Hana was waiting at the
hotel and waylaid the Egyptian officials. It was the first time Tate met him,
and he didn’t know who he was.</p> <p>In the days that followed, Hana appeared
wherever the Egyptian officials went, luring them away from other scheduled
meetings and looking to participate in their meetings with U.S. agricultural
officials, Tate said. Hana’s attorney accompanied them on at least one occasion,
and both were so unfamiliar with how halal certification worked they asked Tate
to explain it to them.</p> <p>Yet soon afterward, Egyptian officials notified
American agricultural officials that Hana would be their sole importer of
halal-certified meat, Tate said.</p> <p>The change roiled the market and the
USDA, where officials warned the monopoly would have damaging effects on both
sides of the globe.</p> <p>“It was in the U.S. interest to maintain free
competition in the U.S. halal market,” Tate testified. “Monopolies run counter
to our economic interest and we tend to oppose them, writ large.”</p> <p>Before
long, the damage became evident, he said.</p> <p>Hana jacked up the weight-based
fee charged for halal-certified beef exports more than tenfold, from about $200
to $400 per shipping container to over $5,000 per container, Tate said.
Typically, such costs are passed on to the consumer, he added. And one of the
four halal certifiers delisted by Egypt’s decision to grant Hana a monopoly went
out of business, Tate said.</p> <p>The U.S. Meat Export Federation raised
concerns that the shift would disrupt the market because IS EG Halal didn’t have
the staff or capacity to do the job, Tate said.</p> <p>“All the plants will
either be: a) clamoring to get the services of the new certifier; or b) refusing
to do business with a totally unknown character,” a federation representative
wrote to U.S. agricultural officials. “The circumstances around this are very
shady, and I think many companies are going to be reticent to do business with
this group at all.”</p> <p>But Egyptian officials would not agree to U.S.
agricultural officials’ requests for a meeting.</p> <p>Egypt is among the
countries that receives the most U.S. military aid in the world, so such
reluctance was unusual, Tate said.</p> <p>“When the American embassy requests a
meeting, we get meetings,” he said.</p> <p>The monopoly was equally unusual, he
added. Egypt is the only U.S. trading partner that has just one authorized halal
certifier, Tate said.</p> <p>U.S. agricultural officials were so concerned about
Hana’s maneuvers that Tate penned a <a
href="https://fas.usda.gov/data/egypt-update-new-egyptian-halal-procedures-may-disrupt-markets-drive-prices">report</a> they
posted publicly to the USDA’s website entitled: “New Egyptian Halal Procedures
May Disrupt Markets, Drive Up Prices.”</p> <p>Late Friday afternoon, prosecutors
began to question Tate about a telephone call Menendez made in 2019 to a top
USDA official about Hana. That line of questioning didn’t last long, though, as
defense attorneys demanded a conversation with Judge Sidney H. Stein out of
jurors’ earshot.</p> <p>Menendez attorney Adam Fee warned Stein that Tate’s
comments about Menendez’s call could be “deeply prejudicial” and asked him to
limit what prosecutors could ask, saying it wasn’t a case brought under the
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.</p> <p>“Can you stay away from the words
‘corrupt’ or ‘corruption?’” Stein asked prosecutor Eli Mark.</p> <p>As the
debate grew heated and Fee railed about jurors “speculating through the
weekend,” Stein lost his patience and banged his fist on his desk.</p> <p>“Mr.
Fee! You wait, sir! Don’t interrupt!” he snapped.</p> <p>Stein adjourned court
for the day shortly afterward.</p> <p>Testimony will resume Monday morning, with
prosecutors expected to call several witnesses including Joshua Paul, former
director of the State Department’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, which
oversees U.S. defense diplomacy, security assistance, and arms transfers to
foreign governments.</p> <p>The ongoing trial is the second corruption trial for
New Jersey’s senior senator in the past seven years. His first ended with a hung
jury in 2017.</p> <p> <a href="/subscribe"> <div
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