George Santos Faces New Charges, Accused of Defrauding His Own Donors, Used Their IDs, Credit Cards
Politicians usually bend over backward for their donors, but George Santos did things differently. The Republican is accused not only of stealing his donors' IDs but also using their credit cards by using those stolen IDs. Now, the controversial Republican congressman is facing brand new charges because of these accusations.
According to the Associated Press, Santos allegedly stole the identities of his donors and then used their credit cards for thousands of dollars worth of unauthorized charges. He then wired these unauthorized credit card charges to his own personal bank account and used the rest to inflate his campaign's funds. The criminal charges against him were filed last Tuesday.
The indictment has 23 counts, with the New York Republican being charged with embezzling money from his campaign and lying to Congress about his wealth, as well as other crimes.
Prosecutors accused George Santos of fraudulently using his donors' credit cards and charged more than $44,000 to his campaign over several months. He also charged one of his donors $12,000 and transferred the "vast majority" of that money to his own bank account.
In addition, Santos is accused of falsely reporting that he had loaned his campaign $500,000. This amount was reported to the Federal Elections Commission, but in reality, he never really gave anything to his campaign. Moreso, at that time, Santos had less than $8,000 in his personal bank account, Prosecutors alleged that the fake loan to his campaign was his attempt to convince Republican Party officials that he was a serious candidate and worth their financial support.
US Attorney Breon Peace released a statement regarding the new Santos charges, saying, "As alleged, Santos is charged with stealing people's identities and making charges on his own donors' credit cards without their authorization, lying to the FEC and, by extension, the public about the financial state of his campaign."
George Santos and His Many Lies
Santos has become one of the most controversial Republicans in the House, and that is saying a lot with people like Laurent Boebert, Matt Gaetz, Jim Jordan, and Marjorie Taylor Greene also serving alongside him. He became so controversial because of the many lies he made to get his House seat.
READ MORE: George Santos Admits To Stealing Checks in Brazil Court
According to the BBC, Santos lied about his college degree and claimed that he worked for several financial giants but in reality, they were all lies. He claimed that he was Jewish and that his grandparents survived the Holocaust but this was false as he is Brazilian and did not have any Jewish lineage.
He also claimed that his mother died on 9/11 but in reality, she is still pretty much alive. When videos of him as a drag queen in Brazil surfaced, he denied that but his fellow Brazilian drag queens revealed more evidence to show he was lying.
George Santos Gets Serious Challenger as Former Democratic Congressman Comes Out of Retirement
Democrat Tom Suozzi previously returned and his retirement opened the door for George Santos to take his seat. Now, he is coming back to challenge his successor and take back that seat from the controversial Republican.
"Today I'm filing a committee to run for Congress in November 2024," he said, effectively coming out of retirement. "The madness in Washington, D.C., and the absurdity of George Santos remaining in the United States Congress is obvious to everyone."
According to People Magazine, he retired from the House to try and become the governor of New York. After failing in his bid in 2022, he has largely stayed out of politics until this announcement.
READ MORE: George Santos Stole Money From a Veteran's Dying Service Dog
This article is owned by Latin Post.
Written by: Rick Martin
WATCH: George Santos facing new criminal charges including identity theft - Eyewitness News ABC7NY