Rep. George Santos.Photo: Alex Wong/Getty
Within hours of being charged, Santospleaded not guilty to all 13 counts.
Inan unsealed indictment, federal prosecutors say the congressman allegedly “devised and executed a scheme” aimed at defrauding donors to his 2022 political campaign.
That scheme, prosecutors allege, included applying for and receiving unemployment benefits at the height of the pandemic — while he was employed and running a congressional campaign. The fraud continued, the indictment adds, when Santos began pocketing campaign contributions to buy designer clothing and pay off his personal debts.
Below, the biggest takeaways from the Santos indictment.
Rep. George Santos leaves a Long Island courthouse after his May 10 arraignment.Matt Agudo / SplashNews.com
Santos allegedly used campaign funds to pay down personal debts, make car and credit card payments, and buy ‘designer clothing’
According to the indictment, Santos urged potential donors to support his House campaign and then used those funds on himself, paying for expensive designer clothing and paying off personal debts, including credit card bills.
That, investigators charge, was a lie and flies in the face of campaign finance law, which dictates that individuals are limited to contributing up to $2,900 per election per candidate committee.
According to the indictment, one donor wired $25,000 to a company Santos claimed was affiliated with his campaign. Shortly after, the indictment alleges the funds were transferred directly to Santos himself, and used “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 transfers” to a personal associate.
A protestor stands outside of the federal courthouse in Central Islip, New York, where George Santos was arraigned.AP Photo/Seth Wenig
Santos allegedly applied for — and received — unemployment while employed
In astatementissued Wednesday, Breon Peace, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, alleged that Santos “unlawfully applied for unemployment benefits that should have gone to New Yorkers who had lost their jobs due to the pandemic.”
As the indictment alleges, the Republican applied to receive unemployment benefits in June 2020, submitting an application in which he claimed to have been unemployed since March 22 of that year.
All told, the indictment alleges Santos collected some $24,744 in unemployment benefits.
George Santos.Alejandra Villa Loarca/Newsday RM via Getty
Santos allegedly lied to the U.S. House of Representatives
According to the indictment, Santos submitted false reports to the U.S. House in 2020 (when he ran his first, failed congressional campaign) and in 2022 (when he was ultimately elected).
On one 2020 document, Santos allegedly “falsely certified that … his only earned income consisted of salary, commission, and bonuses totaling $55,000” from a company (known as “Company 1” in the indictment) despite only receiving $27,555 from that company. The other source of his income, which went unreported, was an investment firm.
In 2022, Santos reported that he had earned $750,000 in salary from the Devolder Organization, and had a savings account with deposits totaling somewhere between $1 million and $5 million. The indictment alleges that was also untrue, and charges Santos with making false statements on House disclosure reports.
George Santos.Sipa via AP Images
Santos was elected in November to represent a New York district made up of parts of Long Island and Queens.
He became the subject of controversy soon after, when theNew YorkTimesreported that he had misled voters about everything from his level of education and previous jobs to family ties to the Holocaust.
As Santos later admitted, he did not graduate college, despite having earlier claimed he attended Baruch College and New York University.
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Other questions about Santos' background have persisted, such as the source and true nature of his income.
As theTimesearlier reported, Santos worked as a call center employee for Dish Network in 2012 and borrowed thousands of dollars from a friend which the acquaintance said he never repaid. On the campaign trail, he cast himself as a successful businessman who owned companies and accumulated wealth through investments.
The freshman lawmaker — whofiled paperwork for his 2024 reelection campaignin March to keep his District 3 seat, according to theFederal Election Commission website— surrendered to federal authorities at a suburban Long Island courthouse Wednesday. He is expected to be arraigned Wednesday afternoon before a U.S. magistrate judge at the federal courthouse in Central Islip, New York.
source: people.com
