Federal prosecutors on Tuesday charged Rep. George Santos of New York with new crimes, including stealing the identities and credit cards of donors to his campaign.
Mr. The 23-count indictment alleges Santos “repeatedly charged her donors’ credit cards without their authorization.” .
In a new indictment filed in the Eastern District of New York, Mr. Santos is charged with 10 counts: conspiracy to commit crimes against the United States, wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, access device fraud, making false statements to the Federal Election Commission and falsifying records. To prevent commission.
The renewed indictment came five days after his campaign treasurer, Nancy Marks, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States. .
He and an unnamed conspirator are Mr. Republican from New York. Ms Marks told the court that Santos understood and agreed to the false donations and falsification of the loan.
“Santos falsely inflated the campaign’s reported receipts with nonexistent loans and fabricated or stolen contributions,” U.S. Attorney Brian Pease for the Eastern District of New York said in a statement.
Mr. An attorney for Santos did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
35 year old Mr. The original indictment against Santos, filed in May, accused him of engaging in three separate financial schemes. Prosecutors charged him with 13 counts of wire fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds and lying on federal disclosure forms.
Mr. who will run for re-election in 2024. Santos has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him. He continues to deny any involvement in his campaign’s finances, blaming any problems or discrepancies on Ms. Marks.
Ms. Marks, who was not named in court documents, and Mr. Prosecutors cited text messages and emails between Santos and the two that said the two agreed to falsely inflate fundraising numbers to meet the $250,000 threshold for a Republican-run project. Mr. A party committee that allows Santos to receive campaign support.
But he provided a list of his and Ms. Marks’ relatives, prosecutors said in Ms. Marks’ court papers in 2021 filings, and the campaign falsely reported $53,200 in donations.
In their initial indictment, federal prosecutors said Mr. Santos is accused of working with an unnamed associate in 2022 to collect at least $50,000 in donations for what he said was a super PAC. For personal expenses including luxury designer clothes and credit card payments, Mr. Santos pocketed the money, they said.
Mr. The original indictment accused Santos of fraudulently applying for more than $24,000 in pandemic unemployment benefits and knowingly making false statements on financial disclosure forms while he was actually employed.
Mr. Santos was scheduled to return to court on the original arraignment on Oct. 27.
