SANTA MONICA, Calif. – Earlier today, Representative George Santos surrendered to authorities at a Federal Building in Long Island, New York. After surrendering, the court unsealed the 13-count indictment that included federal charges for wire fraud, unlawful money transactions and theft of public money.
Santos is expected to appear before a magistrate judge later today.
Santos first came in the public eye late last year after he won an election to become the Representative for New York’s Third Congressional District. At that time, questions were already swirling about Santos’ employment and educational histories. Since then, it has been proven that Santos lied about both of those items and so much more.
In the Indictment that was unsealed today, Santos is charged with stealing money from the public. In 2020, Santos applied for an received unemployment benefits from the state of New York for almost one year despite being employed. Moreover, Santos set up an elaborate Ponzi Scheme in which he asked for donations to help fund his campaign. The amount of money he collected and the actual payments were supposed to funnel through a nonprofit organization commonly known as a 501c. However, Santos seemingly funneled the money through a private corporation and made extravagant purchases with the donated funds.
When asked about whether or not Santos should resign is office, Republicans Kevin McCarthy and Steve Scalise, separately said, there is room for concern but Santos must have his day in court and will go through the legal process.
Photo courtesy of NYT / Kenny Holston