Ajola Xoxa's "sister" sentenced to prison in America

2025-10-02 12:14:00, Aktualitet CNA

The wife of former U.S. Senator Robert Menendez, Nadine Menendez, has been sentenced to four and a half years in prison for aiding her husband in a bribery scheme that involved large sums of cash, gold bars and a Mercedes-Benz.

Nadine Menendez, 58, was convicted in April of 15 charges, including bribery, after a jury found that she acted as a bridge between her husband and Egyptian officials, passing messages and arranging meetings.

Her husband was sentenced last year to 11 years in prison for the scheme that also led to his political defeat. Prosecutors had described her as indispensable to the plot.

At the time of the scheme, Robert Menendez was the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, a powerful role that gave him significant influence over US foreign policy.

Prosecutors said the couple used their positions to covertly advance Egyptian government interests in Washington. They had sought a sentence of at least seven years for Nadine Menendez.

But Judge Sidney H Stein of the Southern District of New York sentenced him to 54 months in prison, saying the prison sentence was important to deter others from potentially committing similar crimes.

An FBI search in 2022 of the couple's New Jersey home uncovered more than $100,000 worth of gold bars and hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, inside envelopes or hidden in clothing.

Along with this evidence, federal prosecutors also showed the jury text messages between the couple and their associates, as well as a Google search by the former senator asking: "How much is a kilogram of gold worth?"

The Ajola Xoxa case

The Menendez couple's scheme is almost the same as the Veliaj-Xoxa couple's scheme.

Erion Veliaj, taking advantage of his position as mayor of Tirana, signed and transferred money to the NGOs of Ajola Xoxa and her family.

A rampant corruption scheme, which was investigated by SPAK and Erion Veliaj went behind bars, who was already dismissed from his position as mayor.

Erion Veliaj was arrested on February 10, while Ajola Xoxa was initially placed under house arrest, and then released on a mandatory appearance order due to their minor child.

Erion Veliaj faces 13 charges for 5 serious criminal offenses such as corruption, abuse of office, concealment of assets, laundering of proceeds of crime, and bringing prohibited items into the cell.

On the other hand, Ajola Xoxa is accused of corruption, concealment of assets, and laundering of the proceeds of crime.

CNA has long published all the corrupt schemes of the Veliaj couple and their families in articles that can be found in the links below./ CNA