Jury selection begins in bribery case against Senator Bob Menendez

Jury selection is set to begin on Monday in thetrial of New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez, who has been accused of allegedly accepting gold bars and cash in exchange for political favours.

Mr Menendez, 70, will stand trial in a Manhattan federal court along with two New Jersey businessmen–real estate developer Fred Daibes and Egyption-American businessman Wael Hana. All three have pleaded not guilty to the charges.

A third businessman, Jose Uribe, has pleaded guilty and has agreed to testify against the other defendants.

Mr Menendez’s wife has also been charged, but her trial will not start until at least July. An attorney representing Nadine Menendez wife has previously said that she «denies any wrongdoing and will vigorously defend against these allegations in court.»

Mr Menendezfaces 16 felony charges in total, including bribery, extortion, acting as a foreign agent and obstruction of justice. If he is convicted, he could spend the rest of his life in prison.

The senator, who has held his position since 2006, and his wife, are accused of accepting hundreds of thousands worth of bribes in the form of cash, gold bars, jewellery and a Mercedez-Benz convertible in exchange for political favours that benefitted the governments of Egypt and Qatar.

In addition, prosecutors brought a superseding indictment against Mr Menendez in March for allegedly trying to cover up the bribes as “loans.”

In the case of Mr Hana, prosecutors claim that the businessman had arranged meetings between Mr Menendez and Egyptian officials, who urged the senator to sign off on military aid.

In return, Mr Hana put Ms Menendez on the payroll of a company he controlled, prosecutors allege.

Prosecutors say Mr Menendez accepted luxury watches, a gold bar