Greek Cypriot city revokes US senator's honorary title after his corruption conviction

By Ahmet Gencturk

ATHENS (AA) - The Greek Cypriot administration’s southwestern city of Paphos said Thursday that it has revoked its decision to award an honorary title to US Senator Robert Menendez following his conviction on multiple corruption charges.

“In yesterday's session chaired by (Paphos) Mayor Phaidon Faidonos, the city council unanimously decided to revoke the decision of the previous council on Dec. 22, 2020 to award the title of Honorary Citizen and the Golden Key of the City of Paphos to the president of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Robert Menendez,” the city said in a statement.

“The decision was made in light of the fact that a US court found Mr. Menendez guilty on July 16 of all 16 charges he faced in a corruption trial,” it said.

It said the decision contributes to the fostering of a culture against corruption.

On July 16, a federal jury in New York found Menendez guilty of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes and acting as an unregistered foreign agent.

The jury reportedly deliberated for three days following the senior senator's nine-week trial.

Investigators found more than $486,000 in cash when they searched Menendez's home in 2022, "much of it stuffed into envelopes and hidden in clothing, closets and a safe," in addition to gold bars, according to an indictment which was unsealed in December.

Two of the one-kilogram and nine one-ounce gold bars that were recovered bore serial numbers indicating that they were once owned by a New Jersey businessman, Fred Daibes, according to prosecutors, one of three businessmen that Menendez allegedly accepted bribes from.