George Santos Arrested on Wire Fraud, Money Laundering Charges
Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) may think his lies don’t matter to voters. The Department of Justice thinks feels otherwise. The Long Island congressman was arrested on Wednesday morning and charged with 13 criminal counts, including wire fraud, money laundering, and lying to Congress.
The 20-page indictment, unsealed Wednesday morning, lays out 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 Congress.
Santos turned himself in in Melville, on Long Island, before being transported to the courthouse in Central Islip, where he pleaded not guilty on all 13 charges.
The charges stem from a scheme in which Santos and an unidentified man allegedly solicited political donations, only for Santos to use them for personal expenses including luxury goods; a scheme in which Santos allegedly applied for Covid-19 assistance in New York even though he was employed and making six figures in Florida; and from allegedly lying to Congress about his financial status in 2020 and 2022.
CNN was the first to report on Tuesday that Santos would be charged federally.
The federal charges only cover a fraction of Santos’ problematic conduct. Alongside the many fabrications Santos has made about his personal life and career, multiple people have alleged that Santos’ prolific scamming included credit card fraud, donation theft, and potential campaign finance violations.
In December of last year, federal investigators in the Eastern District of New York indicated they had initiated an investigation centered around Santos’ campaign finances. “The numerous fabrications and inconsistencies associated with Congressman-Elect Santos are nothing short of stunning,” Long Island’s Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly, a Republican, said at the time.
Donnelly vowed to prosecute any crimes uncovered by her probe, adding that, “the residents of Nassau County and other parts of the third district must have an honest and accountable representative in Congress.”
In Congress, Santos is facing an investigation by a House Ethics panel regarding allegations he may have “engaged in unlawful activity with respect to his 2022 congressional campaign; failed to properly disclose required information on statements filed with the House; violated federal conflict of interest laws in connection with his role in a firm providing fiduciary services; and/or engaged in sexual misconduct towards an individual seeking employment in his congressional office.”
Despite his abysmal approval ratings, the congressman announced in March that he would be running for reelection. The existence of a campaign could allow Santos to use funds raised for his candidacy to pay off potential legal expenses — not that he stands to get many donations.