Rep.-elect George Santos, R-New York, speaks at an annual leadership meeting of the Republican Jewish Coalition Saturday, Nov. 19, 2022, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)
Rep. George Santos, the right-wing U.S. congressman who ascended to MAGA stardom on a pile of serial fabrications, has been arrested on a 13-count indictment accusing him of fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds and false statements.
"This indictment seeks to hold Santos accountable for various alleged fraudulent schemes and brazen misrepresentations," Eastern District of New York U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said in a statement.
After his election to public office, the New York Times exposed the then-congressman-elect's image as the "embodiment of the American dream" as a lie. Santos claimed he graduated from Baruch College, became a "seasoned Wall Street financier and investor" at Citigroup and Goldman Sachs, and had a registered charity called Friends of Pets United. The Times found no evidence any of that was true, and other discrepancies soon followed, including genealogy records contradicting his claims that his grandparents escaped the Holocaust. Santos acknowledged that he exaggerated his ties to Judaism, calling himself "Jew-ish."
Questions also lingered about how Santos â who reported no assets and had a salary of $55,000 in 2020 â reported between $1 and $5 million from his company Devolder Organization some two years later.
Federal prosecutors claim that Santos went far beyond embellishments of his life and backstory: Santos allegedly committed a spree of federal crimes.
"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," Peace continued. "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 various allegations in the indictment break down into three separate schemes, starting with an allegedly fraudulent campaign contribution scheme tracing back to September 2022.
As he was running for Congress, Santos operated an unidentified limited liability company that he used to defraud prospective political supporters with the help of an unnamed Queens-based political consultant, prosecutors say.
Santos allegedly directed that consultant to falsely tell donors that their money would assist in the election effort, but the prosecutors say that he transferred two $25,000 donations through his LLC to his personal bank accounts.
The then-candidate then used those funds for "cash withdrawals, personal purchases of luxury designer clothing, credit card payments, a car payment, payments on personal debts," according to his indictment.
In another section of the indictment, prosecutors allege that Santos committed unemployment insurance fraud in 2020. At the time, prosecutors say, Santos padded his $120,000 salary with unemployment insurance intended for those impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic when he still had a job. Prosecutors claim that Santos lied about being unemployed on a weekly basis to collect those additional benefits, totaling more than $24,000.
Another section of the indictment alleges that Santos lied to the House of Representatives and the public in statements about his financial condition.
Santos is expected to be arraigned on Wednesday afternoon in a federal courthouse in Central Islip, New York.
Read the indictment here.
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