US Rep. George Santos facing federal charges

[aubiefifty 18,259]

news.yahoo.com

 

AP sources: US Rep. George Santos facing federal charges

MICHAEL BALSAMO, FARNOUSH AMIRI and JAKE OFFENHARTZ

5–6 minutes

---

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. Rep. George Santos, who faced outrage and mockery over a litany of fabrications about his heritage, education and professional pedigree, has been charged with federal criminal offenses, two people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.

The charges against Santos, filed in the Eastern District of New York, remain under seal.

The people could not publicly discuss specific details of the case while it remains under seal and spoke to The AP on condition of anonymity.

Reached on Tuesday, Santos said, “This is news to me.”

“You’re the first to call me about this,” he said in a brief phone interview.

- ADVERTISEMENT -

The charges were first reported by CNN.

The New York Republican has admitted to lying about having Jewish ancestry, a Wall Street background, college degrees and a history as a star volleyball player. Serious questions about his finances also surfaced — including the source of what he claimed was a quickly amassed fortune despite recent financial problems, including evictions and owing thousands of dollars in back rent.

Santos has resisted calls to resign and recently announced he was running for reelection. He said his lies about his life story, which included telling people he had jobs at several global financial firms and a lavish real estate portfolio, were harmless embellishments of his resume.

Pressure on him to quit, though, has been intense. Reporters and members of the public hounded him. He was mocked on social media and late-night television. Fellow New York Republicans demanded he resign, saying he had betrayed voters and his own party with his lies.

Nassau County prosecutors and the New York attorney general’s office had previously said they were looking into possible violations of the law.

Besides questions about his life story, Santos’ campaign spending stoked scrutiny because of unusual payments for travel, lodging and other items.

The nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center lodged a complaint with the Federal Election Commission and urged regulators to investigate Santos. The “mountain of lies” Santos propagated during the campaign about his life story and qualifications, the center said, should prompt the commission to “thoroughly investigate what appear to be equally brazen lies about how his campaign raised and spent money.”

In his filings with the FEC, Santos initially said he loaned his campaign and related political action committees more than $750,000 — money he claimed came from a family company.

Yet, the wealth necessary to make those loans seems to have emerged from nowhere. In a financial disclosure statement filed with the clerk of the U.S. House in 2020, Santos said he had no assets and an annual income of $55,000.

His company, the Devolder Organization, wasn’t incorporated until spring 2021. Yet last September, Santos filed another financial disclosure form reporting that this new company, incorporated in Florida, had paid him a $750,000 salary in each of the last two years, plus another $1 million to $5 million in dividends. In one interview, Santos described the Devolder Organization as a business that helped rich people buy things like yachts and aircraft.

Court records indicate Santos was the subject of three eviction proceedings in Queens between 2014 and 2017 because of unpaid rent.

Some Republicans, including those in his district, have sharply castigated Santos for his dishonesty. The Nassau County Republican Committee, which had supported his candidacy, said it would not support Santos for reelection.

Santos lost his first race for Congress in 2020 but ran again in 2022 and won in a district that is in the suburbs of Long Island and a sliver of Queens.

A local newspaper, the North Shore Leader, had raised issues about Santos’ background before the election but it was not until a few weeks after the election that the depth of his duplicity became public.

The New York Times reported that companies where Santos claimed to have worked, Citigroup and Goldman Sachs, had no record of him having been an employee. Baruch College, where Santos claimed to have gotten a degree in finance and economics, said he hadn’t been a student.

Beyond his resume, Santos invented a life story that has also come under question, including claims that his grandparents “fled Jewish persecution in Ukraine, settled in Belgium, and again fled persecution during WWII.”

During his campaign, he referred to himself as “a proud American Jew.”

Confronted with questions about that story, Santos, a Roman Catholic, said he never intended to claim Jewish heritage.

The Times also uncovered records in Brazil that show Santos, when he was 19, was the subject of a criminal investigation there in 2008 over allegations he used stolen checks to buy items at a clothing shop in the city of Niteroi, which is near Rio de Janeiro. Brazilian authorities said they have reopened the case.

___

Associated Press writers Michael R. Sisak in New York and Lindsay Whitehurst in Washington contributed to this report.

[CoffeeTiger 5,880]

He’ll just make up a new identity and move to Idaho or something to try and start another new, made up life for himself. 
 

 

[icanthearyou 4,468]

This is a shame.  The man finally found his true calling,,, politician in a fake democracy, corrupt government.  The man is perfect for the job.  How can you take it away from him?

[homersapien 12,244]

15 hours ago, icanthearyou said:

This is a shame.  The man finally found his true calling,,, politician in a fake democracy, corrupt government.  The man is perfect for the job.  How can you take it away from him?

He's quite safe in today's Republican party.

Except for a few you can count on one hand, they're all evil bastards.

Edited May 10, 2023 by homersapien

[Auburn85 436]

https://abc7ny.com/george-santos-charged-charges-indictment-congress/13229821/

 

 

Quote

 

Rep. George Santos charged with 13 criminal counts

 

Wednesday, May 10, 2023 12:19PM

 

CENTRAL ISLIP, Suffolk County (WABC) -- Congressman George Santos surrendered Wednesday morning to face federal charges of fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds and false statements.

Santos surrendered at the Alfonse M. D'Amato courthouse in Central Islip, New York.

He is charged with 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 House of Representatives.

The indictment was returned on Tuesday under seal by a federal grand jury sitting in Central Islip.

The indictment says Santos induced supporters to donate to a company under the false pretense that the money would be used to support his campaign. Instead, it says, he used it for personal expenses, including luxury designer clothes and to pay off his credit cards.

Santos also is accused of lying about his finances on congressional disclosure forms and applying for and receiving unemployment benefits while he was employed as regional director of an investment firm and running for Congress.

U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said the indictment "seeks to hold Santos accountable for various alleged fraudulent schemes and brazen misrepresentations."

"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 said.

Santos will be arraigned this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Arlene R. Lindsay at the federal courthouse.

Despite House Republican leaders appearing to stand by Santos, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul encouraged the congressman to resign.

"I did call for George Santos to resign when these incredible information was starting to come out, I think its important that justice be done, that he deal with the consequences and we will let the courts play it out," Hochul said. "His constituents deserve a lot better than that, they deserve someone that is full time, representing them, an honest individual, people want honestly in their elected officials. And also, we will see what happens. These are charges, we will see what comes, if there is a conviction, obviously there is an automatic removal from office. In the meantime, he continues, I think he should just do the right thing and put this district out of its misery and move on."

Rep. Ritchie Torres issued a statement saying the criminal prosecution of Santos is "long overdue."

"He is a pathological liar and lawbreaker who lied to the voters of New York State and defrauded his way into the United States Congress," the statement read. "About 800,000 Americans have been continually deprived of the honest representation they deserve in the People's House. Although the details of the federal prosecution are not yet fully known, one thing is crystal clear - either Rep. Santos must resign or House Republican leadership, under Speaker Kevin McCarthy, must summon the courage to join House Democrats in expelling him. Rep. Santos is a deep rot of corruption at the core of Congress."

These charges come just a month after the embattled congressman announced he would run for re-election.

On Tuesday night, Santos' political opponents demanded he resign from congress.

Robert Zimmerman was the Democrat who ran against Santos and tried to spread the word about Santos' many lies. Zimmerman called on House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to dump Santos from his conference.

Nassau County Legislator Josh Lafazan condemned Santos for having the nerve to run again in light of misleading voters the first time.

"To think that one human being would have the audacity to vote for you after what you did to our constituents, then you're either insane, incompetent or a little bit of both," Lafazan said.

Santos was elected to Congress last fall after a campaign built partly on falsehoods. He told people he was a wealthy Wall Street dealmaker with a substantial real estate portfolio who had been a star volleyball player in college, among other things. In reality, he didn't work at the big financial firms he claimed had employed him, didn't go to college and had struggled financially before his run for public office.

Questions about his finances also surfaced. In regulatory filings, Santos said he loaned his campaign and related political action committees more than $750,000, but it was unclear how he would have come into that kind of wealth so quickly after years in which he struggled to pay his rent and faced multiple eviction proceedings.

In a financial disclosure form, Santos reported making $750,000 a year from a family company, the Devolder Organization, but the charges unsealed Wednesday allege that Santos never received that sum, nor the $1 million and $5 million in dividends he listed as coming from the firm.

Santos has described the Devolder Organization as a broker for sales of luxury items like yachts and aircraft. The business was incorporated in Florida shortly after Santos stopped working as a salesman for a company accused by federal authorities of operating an illegal Ponzi scheme.

The congressman's constituents have expressed outrage at the lies Santos fabricated while campaigning and have held protests outside of his Long Island office.

This indictment may not be the end of his legal troubles because several agencies in New York are investigating him, including the New York Attorney General as well as district attorneys in both Queens and Nassau County.

 

 

 

[aubiefifty 18,259]

this cat is the very reason i do not trust most repubs. they vetted him and when all the allegations were brought up they let him off the hook. now he has i think 14 federal indictments on him. how can you trust people like that? the same party ran hershel who stole half is campaign funds and is being looked at by the feds. then we got the kooks like greene and granny with a gun {i forget her name}.they have the Qnon cult which i still do not understand. now the nazi's are trying to take over their party and walk around proudly with death patches which of course is aimed at dems and i can only assume at this point anyone of color? and of course right now they are doing almost nothing while children are being murdered. i mean i understand rights but after a while if you are not a moron or a pig it is time to relook at things and stop this madness. and then people like trump running on anger and hate unless it is "his" people and which he still throws under the bus if he needs to. vent over.

[AU9377 6,037]

19 hours ago, aubiefifty said:

news.yahoo.com

 

AP sources: US Rep. George Santos facing federal charges

MICHAEL BALSAMO, FARNOUSH AMIRI and JAKE OFFENHARTZ

5–6 minutes

---

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. Rep. George Santos, who faced outrage and mockery over a litany of fabrications about his heritage, education and professional pedigree, has been charged with federal criminal offenses, two people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.

The charges against Santos, filed in the Eastern District of New York, remain under seal.

The people could not publicly discuss specific details of the case while it remains under seal and spoke to The AP on condition of anonymity.

Reached on Tuesday, Santos said, “This is news to me.”

“You’re the first to call me about this,” he said in a brief phone interview.

- ADVERTISEMENT -

The charges were first reported by CNN.

The New York Republican has admitted to lying about having Jewish ancestry, a Wall Street background, college degrees and a history as a star volleyball player. Serious questions about his finances also surfaced — including the source of what he claimed was a quickly amassed fortune despite recent financial problems, including evictions and owing thousands of dollars in back rent.

Santos has resisted calls to resign and recently announced he was running for reelection. He said his lies about his life story, which included telling people he had jobs at several global financial firms and a lavish real estate portfolio, were harmless embellishments of his resume.

Pressure on him to quit, though, has been intense. Reporters and members of the public hounded him. He was mocked on social media and late-night television. Fellow New York Republicans demanded he resign, saying he had betrayed voters and his own party with his lies.

Nassau County prosecutors and the New York attorney general’s office had previously said they were looking into possible violations of the law.

Besides questions about his life story, Santos’ campaign spending stoked scrutiny because of unusual payments for travel, lodging and other items.

The nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center lodged a complaint with the Federal Election Commission and urged regulators to investigate Santos. The “mountain of lies” Santos propagated during the campaign about his life story and qualifications, the center said, should prompt the commission to “thoroughly investigate what appear to be equally brazen lies about how his campaign raised and spent money.”

In his filings with the FEC, Santos initially said he loaned his campaign and related political action committees more than $750,000 — money he claimed came from a family company.

Yet, the wealth necessary to make those loans seems to have emerged from nowhere. In a financial disclosure statement filed with the clerk of the U.S. House in 2020, Santos said he had no assets and an annual income of $55,000.

His company, the Devolder Organization, wasn’t incorporated until spring 2021. Yet last September, Santos filed another financial disclosure form reporting that this new company, incorporated in Florida, had paid him a $750,000 salary in each of the last two years, plus another $1 million to $5 million in dividends. In one interview, Santos described the Devolder Organization as a business that helped rich people buy things like yachts and aircraft.

Court records indicate Santos was the subject of three eviction proceedings in Queens between 2014 and 2017 because of unpaid rent.

Some Republicans, including those in his district, have sharply castigated Santos for his dishonesty. The Nassau County Republican Committee, which had supported his candidacy, said it would not support Santos for reelection.

Santos lost his first race for Congress in 2020 but ran again in 2022 and won in a district that is in the suburbs of Long Island and a sliver of Queens.

A local newspaper, the North Shore Leader, had raised issues about Santos’ background before the election but it was not until a few weeks after the election that the depth of his duplicity became public.

The New York Times reported that companies where Santos claimed to have worked, Citigroup and Goldman Sachs, had no record of him having been an employee. Baruch College, where Santos claimed to have gotten a degree in finance and economics, said he hadn’t been a student.

Beyond his resume, Santos invented a life story that has also come under question, including claims that his grandparents “fled Jewish persecution in Ukraine, settled in Belgium, and again fled persecution during WWII.”

During his campaign, he referred to himself as “a proud American Jew.”

Confronted with questions about that story, Santos, a Roman Catholic, said he never intended to claim Jewish heritage.

The Times also uncovered records in Brazil that show Santos, when he was 19, was the subject of a criminal investigation there in 2008 over allegations he used stolen checks to buy items at a clothing shop in the city of Niteroi, which is near Rio de Janeiro. Brazilian authorities said they have reopened the case.

___

Associated Press writers Michael R. Sisak in New York and Lindsay Whitehurst in Washington contributed to this report.

Never forget, the Democrats forced Al Franken out of his Senate seat because he, as a comedian, made some inappropriate gestures about a woman's breasts 20 years ago, the Republicans sit idly by for this fool.