Lying Long Island Rep. George Santos was hit with a slew of new allegations Tuesday — including that he stole the identities of campaign donors and racked up tens of thousands of dollars on their credit cards without permission.
Federal prosecutors unveiled a new indictment charging the scandal-plagued Republican with 10 additional charges — on top of the charges he already faces of embezzling money from his campaign and lying to Congress.
“As alleged, Santos allegedly stole people’s identities and made charges to his own donors’ credit cards without their permission, lying to the FEC and, by extension, the public about the state of his campaign finances,” said US Attorney Breon Peace. in a statement Tuesday.
“Santos falsely inflated campaign-reported receipts with non-existent loans and contributions that were either fabricated or stolen.”
Santos, 35, allegedly used donors’ cards — without their knowledge — to charge more than $44,000 to his campaign over several months, the superseding indictment said.
In one instance, he charged $12,000 — “the bulk” of which went into his personal account.
George Santos has maintained his innocence. AP
The new indictment brings the total number of charges Santos faces to 23, and comes after his former campaign treasurer Nancy Marks pleaded guilty last week to fraud conspiracy charges for allegedly conspiring with a congressman to cook the book.
Prosecutors further allege that Santos and Marks conspired to ensure that pols challenging the authorization qualified for a national party committee program that offers logistical support and financial resources to campaigns that raise at least $250,000 from donors in a quarter.
As part of the scheme, the couple allegedly falsely indicated in financial reports that at least 10 members of the Santos family had made large contributions to the campaign, despite knowing they had not, according to prosecutors.
They also allege Santos loaned his campaign about $500,000 — even though he had less than $8,000 in his personal and business accounts, prosecutors alleged.
Former Santos campaign treasurer Nancy Marks pleaded guilty in federal court last week.AP
Santos had previously tried to blame Marks for irregularities in his finances, claiming he was “rogue”.
Marks was a close confidant of Santos during his two bids for Congress.
The new charges against Santos include one count of conspiracy to commit offenses against the US, two counts of wire fraud, two counts of making materially false statements to the Federal Election Commission, two counts of aggravated identity theft, one count of access device fraud and two counts of falsifying records. submitted to prevent FEC.
That is on top of the 13 charges brought against him earlier this year which include seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of theft of public funds and two counts of making materially false statements to the Dewan Rakyat.
Santos now faces a total of 23 charges.Twitter/Rep. George Santos
Santos previously pleaded not guilty to the original 13 charges.
He is next scheduled to appear in Long Island federal court on Oct. 27.
Santos has faced calls to step down since late last year when it was revealed that he fabricated many of his personal stories.
Undeterred, he went ahead with plans to run for re-election in 2024 and faced a number of primary opponents.
On Tuesday, former Rep. Thomas Suozzi (D-NY) previously announced that he is filing paperwork to take Santos’ seat.
The Post contacted a Santos representative for comment.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
