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A brand new indictment filed Tuesday charged U.S. Rep. George Santos with stealing the identities of donors to his marketing campaign after which utilizing their bank cards to ring up tens of 1000’s of {dollars} in unauthorized expenses.
Prosecutors stated a few of that stolen cash ended up in his personal checking account.
The 23-count indictment replaces one filed earlier towards the New York Republican charging him with embezzling cash from his marketing campaign and mendacity to Congress about his wealth, amongst different offenses.
The brand new expenses embrace allegations that he charged greater than $44,000 to his marketing campaign over a interval of months utilizing playing cards belonging to contributors with out their data. In a single case, he charged $12,000 to a contributor’s bank card and transferred the “overwhelming majority” of that cash into his private checking account, prosecutors stated.
Santos can be accused of falsely reporting to the Federal Elections Fee that he had loaned $500,000 to his marketing campaign in an try to persuade Republican Celebration officers that he was a severe candidate, when he really had lower than $8,000 in his private accounts.
“As alleged, Santos is charged with stealing folks’s identities and making expenses on his personal donors’ bank cards with out their authorization, mendacity to the FEC and, by extension, the general public concerning the monetary state of his marketing campaign,” U.S. Legal professional Breon Peace stated in a press release.
Santos didn’t instantly return a textual content and a telephone message in search of remark. He has beforehand denied defrauding anybody.
The brand new expenses deepen the authorized peril for Santos, who doubtless faces a prolonged jail time period if convicted. To date, he has resisted all calls to resign, insisting he intends to run for reelection subsequent yr.
Santos’ private {and professional} biography as a rich businessman started to unravel quickly after profitable election to signify Lengthy Island and Queens final yr, revealing a tangled internet of deception.
Along with mendacity to voters — about his distinguished Wall Road background, Jewish heritage, educational and athletic achievements, animal rescue work, actual property holdings and extra — Santos is accused of finishing up quite a few fraud schemes meant to complement himself and mislead his donors.
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