Rep. George Santos pleads not guilty to fraud, theft charges

Framed from a lower angle against a blue sky, George Santos speaks into several microphones.

By JAKE OFFENHARTZ and MICHAEL R. SISAK

Associated Press

May 10, 2023 Updated 6:28 PM PT

CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. — U.S. Rep. George Santos, the New York Republican infamous for fabricating key parts of his life story, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to duping donors, stealing from his campaign and lying to Congress by claiming he was a millionaire, all while cheating to collect unemployment benefits he didn’t deserve.

After he entered his plea, he defied calls to resign and said he wouldn’t drop his bid for reelection in 2024.

Santos’ 13-count federal indictment was a reckoning for what prosecutors say was a web of fraud and deceit that overlapped with his fantastical public image as a wealthy businessman — a fictional biography that began to unravel after he won election last fall.

Santos, 34, surrendered his passport and was released from custody on a $500,000 bond following his arraignment, about five hours after he turned himself in to face charges of wire fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds and making false statements to Congress. He could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted of all charges.

“This is the beginning of the ability for me to address and defend myself,” a cheerfully combative Santos told reporters swarming him outside a Long Island federal courthouse. He said he’d been cooperating with the investigation and vowed to fight what he labeled a “witch hunt.”

His lawyer, Joseph Murray, was more circumspect, saying: “Anytime the federal government comes after you it’s a serious case. We have to take this serious.”

Santos said he planned to return to Washington — where his indictment is amplifying doubts about the freshman congressman’s ability to serve. House Republican leaders are taking a wait-and-see approach, saying Santos is innocent until proven guilty. Others are reiterating previous calls for him to step aside.

“I think we’re seeing that the wheels of justice grind slow, but they grind fine,” said Sen. Mitt Romney, a Utah Republican who confronted Santos on the House floor at President Biden’s State of the Union address in February.

Biden, when asked about Santos on Wednesday, said, “I’m not commenting,” adding that anything he said would be construed by some as interfering in the investigation. Asked whether Congress should expel Santos, Biden said, “That’s for Congress to decide.”

Among the allegations against Santos, prosecutors say he created a company and induced supporters to donate to it under the false pretense that the money would be used to support his campaign. Instead, they say, he used the money for personal expenses, including designer clothes and credit card and car payments.

Santos also is accused of lying about his finances on congressional disclosure forms and applying for and receiving unemployment benefits while he was making $120,000 a year as regional director of an investment firm that the government shut down in 2021 over allegations that it was a Ponzi scheme.

The indictment “seeks to hold Santos accountable for various alleged fraudulent schemes and brazen misrepresentations,” said U.S. Atty. Breon Peace. “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.”

Santos didn’t directly address the specifics of the charges when speaking to reporters, but when asked why he received unemployment benefits while he was working, he cited a job change and confusion during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The congressman, wearing his usual crew neck sweater, blazer and khakis, said little during his arraignment, which lasted about 15 minutes. Reporters and a handful of constituents overflowed the gallery into the jury box.

“He should be thrown out of Congress and put in prison,” said Jeff Herzberg, a Long Island resident who waited for hours to see Santos’ arraignment. “I hope that day comes soon.”

Santos was elected to Congress last fall after a campaign built on multiple falsehoods. He told people he was a wealthy Wall Street deal maker with a substantial real estate portfolio who had been a star volleyball player in college, among other fabrications.

In reality, he never worked at the big financial firms he claimed he had, didn’t go to college and had struggled financially before his run for public office. The indictment alleges that he also exaggerated his claims that he‘d fueled his run largely with self-made riches, earned from brokering deals on expensive toys for wealthy clients.

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

Santos has described that business as a broker for sales of luxury items such as yachts and aircraft. The business was incorporated in Florida shortly after he stopped working as a salesman for Harbor City Capital, the company accused by federal authorities of operating an illegal Ponzi scheme.

In November 2021, Santos formed Redstone Strategies, a Florida company that federal prosecutors say he used to dupe donors into financing his lifestyle. According to the indictment, he told an associate to solicit contributions to the company and provided the person with contact information of potential contributors.

Emails to prospective donors falsely claimed that the company was formed “exclusively” to aid Santos’ election bid and that there would be no limits on how much they could contribute, the indictment said, adding that Santos falsely claimed that the money would be spent on television ads and other campaign expenses.

Last October, a month before his election, Santos transferred about $74,000 from company coffers to bank accounts he maintained, and also transferred money to some of his associates, the indictment said.

Santos has faced criminal investigations before.

When he was 19, he was investigated in Brazil over allegations that he used stolen checks to buy items at a clothing shop. Brazilian authorities say they have reopened the case.

In 2017, Santos was charged with theft in Pennsylvania after authorities said he used thousands of dollars in fraudulent checks to buy puppies from dog breeders. That case was dismissed after Santos claimed his checkbook had been stolen and that someone else had taken the dogs.

Federal authorities have separately been looking into complaints about Santos’ work raising money for a group that purported to help neglected and abused pets. One New Jersey veteran accused Santos of failing to deliver $3,000 he had raised to help his pet dog get a needed surgery.

Rep. George Santos pleads not guilty to charges of fraud and theft during campaign

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