Rep George Santos was arrested for stealing thousands of dollars from campaign donors (Picture: AP)
US Representative George Santos was arrested on Wednesday after being federally charged with defrauding his campaign donors.
The congressman from New York is accused of using thousands of dollars of campaign funds to purchase designer clothing and make credit card payments, as well as defrauding a COVID-19 unemployment benefit program and lying to members of congress.
George Anthony Devolder Santos was elected to the House of Representatives in November 2022. He won as a Republican in an upset victory in Long Island’s Nassau County, which is home to some of New York City’s liberal-leaning suburbs.
But Santos quickly became infamous after a New York Times report revealed he fabricated parts of his resume – including never graduated from Baruch College and never working on Wall Street for Goldman Sachs or Citigroup.
It later came out that Santos had lied about significant parts of his past. He made misleading statements about playing on his college volleyball team, practicing Judaism, having family that survived the Holocaust in Ukraine, and losing his mother in the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
He later apologized for these lies, telling the New York Post: ‘my sins here are embellishing my resume. I’m sorry.’
Santos surrendered to federal authorities at the District Courthouse in Central Islip, New York on Wednesday morning. He was charged with seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of theft of public funds, and two counts of lying to congress.
‘Taken together, the allegations in the indictment charge Santos with relying on repeated dishonesty and deception to ascend to the halls of Congress and enrich himself,’ US Attorney Breon Peace said. ‘He used political contributions to line his pockets, unlawfully applied for unemployment benefits that should have gone to New Yorkers who had lost their jobs due to the pandemic, and lied to the House of Representatives.’
The bulk of the 20-page indictment against Santos details a scheme the congressman allegedly ran while still a candidate. The Republican candidate sent out fundraising emails and text messages soliciting donations to his
However, these funds were never sent to a political action committee, where they would be used to buy advertisements. Instead, ‘they were transferred into bank accounts controlled by the defendant.’
From there, the money was ‘spent by Devolder Santos for his personal benefit, including to make cash withdrawals, personal purchases of luxury designer clothing, credit card payments, a car payment, payments on personal debts, and one or more bank transfer’s to Devolder Santos’s personal associates,’ the indictment reads.
He was also charged with lying on House of Representatives disclosure forms. The congressman listed his income as $750,000 from a company called the ‘Devolder Organization,’ but prosecutors allege he never made that amount of money from the company.
They also allege he lied when he disclosed he had ‘$1,000,000 to $5,000,000’ in a savings account.
Many of Santos’s colleagues have called on him to resign, including members of his own party.
‘Listen, George Santos should have resigned in December,’ said Rep Marc Molinaro, a Republican who represents parts of upstate New York. ‘George Santos should have resigned in January. George Santos should have resigned yesterday. And perhaps he’ll resign today. But sooner or later, whether he chooses to or not, both the truth and justice will be delivered to him.’
But Santos has resisted calls for his resignation in the past, and launched his reelection campaign in April. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy also declined to call for his resignation: ‘I think in America, you’re innocent until proven guilty.’
This is not the first time Santos has been under investigation. Since his election, it came out that Santos was under charged in Brazil for using forged checks to purchase clothing.
He was later charged with theft in Pennsylvania in 2017, when he allegedly used forged checks to purchase puppies from a dog breeder. These charges were dismissed.
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The New York politician allegedly used campaign funds to purchase designer clothing and make credit card payments.