Wael Hana biography: 10 things about Edgewater, New Jersey businessman from Egypt

Wael Hana is an Egyptian businessman living in New Jersey, United States. He was business associates with Jose Uribe and Fred Daibes, who are both from New Jersey.

Uribe worked in the insurance and trucking business in New Jersey. Daibes is a real estate developer in New Jersey and a long-time donor to Robert “Bob” Menendez, who is married to Hana’s friend Nadine Arslanian Menendez.

Wael Hana is not just corrupted, he’s running an Egyptian Intel facade company operating on US soil, @SenatorMenendez knows about that and worked to help monopolizing its halal market. @StateDept @NewYorkFBI @msrmichaelson pic.twitter.com/F1RELD4S52

— Sherif Osman (@SherifFree) September 27, 2023

Nadine was born in Lebanon to Armenian parents while Bob was born in New York City, New York, USA to Cuban parents. Bob is accused of using his power and influence as a U.S. senator to protect the interests of Hana, Uribe and Daibes and to benefit the government of Egypt.

In 2019, Hana and Uribe offered to help buy a new Mercedes-Benz C-300 convertible worth more than $60,000 for Bob and Nadine. In exchange, Bob agreed and sought to interfere in the New Jersey attorney general’s criminal insurance fraud prosecution of an associate of Uribe and a related investigation involving an employee of Uribe.

Hana is also known as Will Hana. Here are 10 more things about him:

1. He is a resident of Edgewater, New Jersey.
2. He is 16 years younger than Nadine and 29 years younger than Bob, who assumed office as a U.S. senator from New Jersey on January 27, 2006.
3. Between 2018 and 2022, Bob and Nadine agreed to and accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of bribes from him, Daibes and Uribe.
4. On May 7, 2018, Bob texted a sensitive, non-public embassy information to Nadine, who forwarded the message to him. He forwarded it to an Egyptian government official. 
5. He operated a company in New Jersey called IS EG Halal Certified, Inc. with financial support and backing from Daibes. The company had little to no revenue until the spring of 2019 when the government of Egypt granted it a monopoly on the certification of U.S. food exports to Egypt as compliant with halal standards. On May 23, 2019, Bob called a high-level U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) official and insisted that the USDA stop opposing IS EG Halal’s status as sole halal certifier. 
6. In July 2019, after the mortgage company for Nadine’s residence initiated foreclosure proceedings, he caused IS EG Halal to pay approximately $23,000 to bring the mortgage current. In October 2020, Nadine and Bob got married.
7. In January 2022, Bob sent Nadine a link to a news article reporting on two pending foreign military sales to Egypt totaling around $2.5 billion. She forwarded the link to him with a message that said, “Bob had to sign off on this.”
8. In June 2022, Federal Bureau of Investigation agents executed a search warrant at Bob and Nadine’s residence in New Jersey and found, among others, home furnishings provided by him and Daibes.
9. On September 26, 2023, he was arrested at the John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens, New York City. He, Uribe and Daibes were each charged with conspiracy to commit bribery and conspiracy to commit honest services fraud.
10. He was 40 years old when he was arrested on September 26, 2023. On September 27, 2023, he, Uribe, Daibes, Bob and Nadine are expected to appear in federal court in Manhattan, New York City.