George Santos Facing 10 New Federal Charges Including Identity Theft and Falsification of Records

New York Congressman George Santos is now facing 23 criminal counts related to his political career.

The ten new charges — announced Tuesday by the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York — include allegations of conspiracy to commit crimes by making materially false statements to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and aggravated identity theft.

Santos, 35, also faces one count of conspiracy to commit crimes against the United States, two counts of wire fraud and two counts of making materially false statements to the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

Additionally, Santos was charged with two counts of falsifying records filed to obstruct the FEC, two counts of aggravated identity theft and one count of access device fraud.

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George Santos now faces 23 more charges. Francis Chung/POLITICO via AP Images

The new charges follow 13 other counts filed against the New York lawmaker in May following an investigation into his financial disclosures and alleged false claims while running for Congress.

The original 13-count indictment included 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.

Santos pleaded not guilty to all 13 counts of the indictment. Then, in September, prosecutors revealed in court documents that Santos had been in plea negotiations with the U.S. government, as he reported The New York Times.

George Santos, October 2023.

Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty

In addition to this latest set of charges, Breon Peace, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said: “As alleged, Santos is accused of stealing people’s identities and charging his own donors’ credit cards without their approval, lying to the FEC and, more broadly, to the public about the financial state of his campaign.”

He added: “Santos falsely inflated reported campaign receipts with non-existent loans and contributions that were either fabricated or stolen.”

According to an affidavit Tuesday, the freshman congressman allegedly stole people’s identities and then charged his donors’ credit cards without their authorization, often for personal gain. In addition, Santos allegedly falsified records, created and filed false campaign reports listing nonexistent loans, and fabricated and stole campaign contributions.

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In December 2021, this allegedly involved an incident in which “an associate (‘Associate’) messaged Santos and others to contribute to his campaign, providing billing information for two credit cards.” At another time, Santos allegedly charged $12,000 to the Contributor’s credit card and then transferred a large portion of the $12,000 to his personal bank account.

In addition to the Contributor’s credit card charges, prosecutors also alleged that a $500,000 loan Santos made to his campaign was fraudulent.

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Two indictments were filed in December 2022 The New York Times report that found many of Santos’ claims in the campaign and on his resume were unfounded. Santos was reported to have misled voters about his education level, previous jobs and family ties to the Holocaust.

After The New York Times the work was published, Santos admitted New York Post later that month that he had lied and “embellished” significant parts of his resume, including his career history as a former Goldman Sachs employee and his college education.

“I’m not a criminal. This [controversy] it will not prevent me from achieving good legislative success. I will be efficient. I’ll be good,” Santos said Fast.

George Santos admitted to falsifying his resume. Jackie Molloy/Bloomberg via Getty

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In January, Santos told colleagues he would temporarily resign from his duties on the small business and science committees pending investigations into his conduct.

Nonetheless, Santos filed paperwork for his 2024 re-election campaign in March, according to the Federal Election Commission’s website.

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Source: HIS Education