Prior to his initial court appearance on federal charges, Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., had his federal indictment unsealed on Wednesday.
The congressman was charged with seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of stealing public funds, and two counts of making materially false statements to the House of Representatives in a 13-count indictment made public on Wednesday in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York.
A federal grand jury in Central Islip, New York, handed down the indictment on Tuesday under secrecy. Santos was detained on Wednesday morning and will appear in court before U.S. Magistrate Judge Arlene R. Lindsay in the Central Islip, New York, location in the afternoon. At the moment, he is detained in that federal courthouse.
The tweet below confirms that Geoge Santos is in custody:
BREAKING: Rep. George Santos Is in custody at the federal courthouse.
The DOJ has charged him with wire fraud, money laundering, stealing public funds, and lying on federal disclosure forms. pic.twitter.com/EOGQkzSQnR
— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) May 10, 2023
US Attorney Details Indictment Against George Santos for Fraudulent Schemes
“This indictment seeks to hold Santos accountable for various alleged fraudulent schemes and brazen misrepresentations,” U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said in a statement. “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. He used political contributions to line his pockets, unlawfully applied for unemployment benefits that should have gone to New Yorkers who had lost their jobs due to the pandemic, and lied to the House of Representatives. My Office and our law enforcement partners will continue to aggressively root out corruption and self-dealing from our community’s public institutions and hold public officials accountable to the constituents who elected them.”
Santos, also known as Anthony Devolder, ran unsuccessfully in 2020 for the Third Congressional District of New York, but he was successful the following year. On January 7, 2023, he was sworn in, just days after the New York Times revealed that Santos had allegedly made up a significant portion of his resume.
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And including the claims that he had worked for two significant Wall Street businesses, had earned a degree from Baruch College, and was descended from Holocaust survivors. According to The Times, Santos is also charged with fraud in his native Brazil.
Santos declined to quit in January despite demands from the local Nassau County GOP, who were upset that the freshman congressman had lied about having Jewish ancestry. And House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who is clinging to a slim Republican majority, declared that Santos would be dismissed if a House Ethics investigation found that he had broken the law on campaign finance.
“As a retired NYPD Detective, I am confident the justice system will fully reveal Congressman Santos’ long history of deceit, and I once again call on this serial fraudster to resign from office,” Rep. Anthony D’Esposito, a fellow Republican freshman congressman whose district borders Santos’, said in a statement.
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