Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) was arrested on federal criminal charges on May 10, in relation to an alleged scheme involving fraud, money laundering, and theft of public funds.
The 13-count indictment, unsealed on May 10, charges Santos, 34, with defrauding prospective political supporters by laundering funds to pay for his personal expenses and illegally receiving unemployment benefits while he was employed.
He is also accused of making false statements to the House of Representatives about his assets, income, and liabilities.
“This indictment seeks to hold Santos accountable for various alleged fraudulent schemes and brazen misrepresentations,” U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Breon Peace said in a statement.
“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. 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,” he added.
The first-term congressman was arrested on the morning of May 10 and is due to appear at a Long Island district court in the afternoon.
Santos has been under intense scrutiny for months over allegedly lying about large parts of his personal background and professional history, some of which he has admitted to fabricating.
Charges
According to the Department of Justice, Santos used an LLC to deceive potential political backers during his successful congressional campaign in September 2022.
Santos hired a New York political consultant to contact potential contributors and authorized them to mislead donors that their money would be used to assist in electing him to the House, including by buying TV ads, prosecutors said. Two donors allegedly transferred $25,000 to that LLC’s bank account, which Santos controlled, based on these fraudulent assertions.
The indictment also alleges that Santos moved the cash into his personal bank accounts to launder them. Santos allegedly spent much of that money on himself, using it to buy clothes, pay off debts, and transfer money to acquaintances and withdrawing it as cash.
Prosecutors also allege Santos made a fraudulent June 2020 application for unemployment benefits under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Securities Act.
Santos is alleged to have received unemployment insurance through the New York State Department of Labor by falsely claiming to have been unemployed in March 2020, benefits that he received through April 2021.
“At the height of the pandemic in 2020, George Santos allegedly applied for and received unemployment benefits while he was employed and running for Congress,” District Attorney for Nassau County Anne T. Donnelly said in a statement.
The congressman was also charged with allegedly misleading the House of Representatives and the public about his financial condition during his two congressional campaigns. The congressman was legally required to file a financial disclosure statement before each election and certify that it was true, complete, and correct.
The indictment alleges that in May 2020, Santos filed two disclosures in which he falsely certified that his only earned income was salary, commission, and bonuses from one of his companies. The indictment states that Santos overstated the income he received from the company and failed to disclose the salary he received from an investment firm.
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) did not say that Santos must leave the House of Representatives in light of the criminal charges from the Biden administration’s Justice Department.
“I’ll look at the charges,” McCarthy told reporters on May 9, during a press conference mainly focused on debt ceiling negotiations with President Joe Biden.
Santos’s office didn’t respond by press time to a request by The Epoch Times for comment.
Reuters and Associated Press contributed to this report.
