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GOP fraudster Congressman in custody, indicted on 13 federal charges, including money laundering and wire fraud – George Santos is accused of ‘converting donor money’ to buy designer clothes and cover his debts

&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"wpcnt">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"wpa">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<span class&equals;"wpa-about">Advertisements<&sol;span>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"u top&lowbar;amp">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<amp-ad width&equals;"300" height&equals;"265"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; type&equals;"pubmine"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; data-siteid&equals;"109460728"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; data-section&equals;"1">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;amp-ad>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<h2 class&equals;"wp-block-heading has-text-color" style&equals;"color&colon;&num;301f23&semi;font-size&colon;16px"><strong>GOP Rep George Santos&comma; &lbrack;R-NY&rsqb;&comma; surrendered himself to feds at the Islip courthouse in New York on Wednesday morning <&sol;strong><&sol;h2>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<h2 class&equals;"wp-block-heading has-text-color" style&equals;"color&colon;&num;301f23&semi;font-size&colon;16px"><strong>Santos is in custody&comma; indicted on 13 federal charges including money laundering <&sol;strong><&sol;h2>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<h2 class&equals;"wp-block-heading has-text-color" style&equals;"color&colon;&num;301f23&semi;font-size&colon;16px"><strong>Indictment includes seven counts of wire fraud&comma; three counts of money laundering&comma; one count of theft of public funds and two counts of making false statements to the House of Representatives<&sol;strong><&sol;h2>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<h2 class&equals;"wp-block-heading has-text-color" style&equals;"color&colon;&num;301f23&semi;font-size&colon;16px"><strong>The New York politician is also accused of wire fraud and converting donor money to personal use &&num;8211&semi; buying designer clothes and cover his debts <&sol;strong><&sol;h2>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<h2 class&equals;"wp-block-heading has-text-color" style&equals;"color&colon;&num;301f23&semi;font-size&colon;16px"><strong>Indictment states that Santos took &dollar;24&comma;000 in unemployment benefits while working and earning &dollar;120&comma;000 a year&comma; at the time <&sol;strong><&sol;h2>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<h2 class&equals;"wp-block-heading has-text-color" style&equals;"color&colon;&num;301f23&semi;font-size&colon;16px"><strong>The Congressman is alleged to have taken &dollar;25&comma;000 from campaign donors&comma; that he converted to personal account <&sol;strong><&sol;h2>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<figure class&equals;"wp-block-image size-full"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2022&sol;12&sol;George-Santos-9&period;png" alt&equals;"" class&equals;"wp-image-425147"&sol;><&sol;figure>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"has-small-font-size"><strong>&&num;8216&semi;This indictment seeks to hold Santos accountable for various alleged fraudulent schemes and brazen misrepresentations&comma;&&num;8217&semi; said US Attorney Breon Peace of Republican Rep&period; George Santos who is in custody after he was indicted on federal charges<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>Republican House member George Santos is in custody in his home state New York&comma; after he was indicted on 13 federal charges including money laundering&comma; wire fraud and making false statements during his campaign&period; <br>The Long Island politician who has fabricated his resume and admitted lying about his life story is in court in is facing a judge Wednesday afternoon after surrendering to authorities&period;<br>The Eastern District of New York unsealed the indictment on Wednesday morning&comma; 24 hours after Santos claimed in the media to have no idea he was being charged&period; <br>The indictment includes seven counts of wire fraud&comma; three counts of money laundering&comma; one count of theft of public funds and two counts of making false statements to the House of Representatives&period; <br>He has been accused of using donor money to buy designer clothes and pay off his personal debts and applying for unemployment benefits while he was running for Congress&period;<br>The allegations add to the litany of lies he has been accused of&comma; including stealing money meant for a dying Iraq War veteran&&num;8217&semi;s dog and being behind a credit card fraud&period; <&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<figure class&equals;"wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2023&sol;05&sol;George-Santos-14&period;jpg" alt&equals;"" class&equals;"wp-image-440195" width&equals;"841" height&equals;"646"&sol;><&sol;figure>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"has-small-font-size"><strong>Shunned by the GOP House caucus&comma; after a series of revelations about his fabrications&comma; Santos sits alone in the chambers of Congress&period; But he remains resolute about not quitting &&num;8211&semi; unless he is kicked out&comma; rather unlikely&comma; considering his role as make weight for the GOP majority vote <&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>&&num;8216&semi;This indictment seeks to hold Santos accountable for various alleged fraudulent schemes and brazen misrepresentations&comma;&&num;8217&semi; stated United States Attorney Breon Peace&period; <br>&&num;8216&semi;Taken together&comma; the allegations in the indictment charge Santos with relying on repeated dishonesty and deception to ascend to the halls of Congress and enrich himself&period; <br>&&num;8216&semi;He used political contributions to line his pockets&comma; unlawfully applied for unemployment benefits that should have gone to New Yorkers who had lost their jobs due to the pandemic&comma; and lied to the House of Representatives&period; <br>&&num;8216&semi;My Office and our law enforcement partners will continue to aggressively root out corruption and self-dealing from our community&&num;8217&semi;s public institutions and hold public officials accountable to the constituents who elected them&period;&&num;8217&semi; <&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<figure class&equals;"wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2023&sol;05&sol;George-Santos-11&period;jpg" alt&equals;"" class&equals;"wp-image-440182" width&equals;"844" height&equals;"744"&sol;><&sol;figure>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"has-small-font-size"><strong>Fraudster&colon; The charges against Republican Rep&period; George Santos &lbrack;photo&rsqb;&comma; are related to unemployment benefits according to he newly revealed federal indictment<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>The charges related to unemployment benefits carry potential additional political sting&comma; since the benefits draw funds from the state whose voters sent him to Washington&period;<br>Prosecutors say he took those benefits while receiving income&period;<br>&&num;8216&semi;At the height of the pandemic in 2020&comma; George Santos allegedly applied for and received unemployment benefits while he was employed and running for Congress&comma;&&num;8217&semi; said D&period;A&period; Anne Donnelly&period; <br>&&num;8216&semi;As charged in the indictment&comma; the defendant&&num;8217&semi;s alleged behavior continued during his second run for Congress when he pocketed campaign contributions and used that money to pay down personal debts and buy designer clothing&period;&&num;8217&semi;<br>At the time&comma; Santos was earning &dollar;120&comma;000 a year from his Florida-based investment firm&period;<br>Santos&&num;8217&semi; arraignment is set for Wednesday afternoon before U&period;S&period; Magistrate Judge Arlene R&period; Lindsay at the Alfonse D&&num;8217&semi;Amato Federal Courthouse&period; <br>The indictment also spells out a &&num;8216&semi;fraudulent&&num;8217&semi; scheme where Santos defrauded political supporters&comma; telling a political consultant to inform donors their contributions were to elect him to Congress&period; That led two donors to transfer &dollar;25&comma;000 to the bank account of an LLC operated by Santos&period; <br>Santos then took those funds and transferred them to his personal bank accounts&comma; according to the indictment&period; &&num;8216&semi;Santos allegedly then used much of that money for personal expenses&comma;&&num;8217&semi; including designer clothing&comma; cash withdrawals&comma; and to service debts&period; <&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<figure class&equals;"wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2023&sol;05&sol;George-Santos-indictment-1&period;jpg" alt&equals;"" class&equals;"wp-image-440186" width&equals;"670" height&equals;"828"&sol;><&sol;figure>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"has-small-font-size"><strong>Indictment charges George Santos with claiming unemployment benefits while on a in a six-figure salary&comma; converting campaign donations to personal uses&comma; and making false statements on financial disclosures&comma; netting &dollar;24&comma;000 in unemployment insurance benefits&period; <&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>The federal charges also state that Santos made false statements to Congress on his required financial disclosures&period; Those forms require a &&num;8216&semi;full and complete&&num;8217&semi; disclosure of his finances&period;<br>The indictment says he overstated the income he got from one firm and &&num;8216&semi;altogether failed&&num;8217&semi; to disclose what he got from an investment firm during his first campaign for Congress&period;<br>The indictment alleges he overstated his income and assets during his second run&period; The &&num;8216&semi;false&&num;8217&semi; statement claimed he got &dollar;750&comma;000 in salary from the Devolder Organization LLC&semi; got dividends of between &dollar;1 million and &dollar;5 million&comma; and held a savings account with up to &dollar;5 million&period;<br>Those claims were &&num;8216&semi;false&comma;&&num;8217&semi; according to the indictment&comma; which also charges he failed to disclose &dollar;28&comma;000 in income from an investment firm and &dollar;20&comma;000 in UI benefits from New York&period;  <br>The indictment&&num;8217&semi;s charges of fraud and money laundering pose a political headache for House Speaker Kevin McCarthy&comma; who relies on Santos&&num;8217&semi; vote in his narrow majority&period; <&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<figure class&equals;"wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2023&sol;05&sol;George-Santos-12&period;jpg" alt&equals;"" class&equals;"wp-image-440193" width&equals;"838" height&equals;"1165"&sol;><&sol;figure>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"has-small-font-size"><strong>Despite calls for the member&&num;8217&semi;s resignation&comma; Speaker Kevin McCarthy&comma; who relies on the vote of Santos in his narrow majority&comma; noted that he does not serve on congressional committees&comma; but he provides a crucial vote for the majority<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<figure class&equals;"wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2023&sol;05&sol;Expel-George-Santos-demonstrations-1&period;jpg" alt&equals;"" class&equals;"wp-image-440197" width&equals;"841" height&equals;"542"&sol;><&sol;figure>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"has-small-font-size"><strong>Demonstrations calling for the resignation of Representative George Santos happened at the U&period;S&period;&comma; Capitol in Washington on February 7<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>McCarthy indicated to reporters Monday after news of the then-sealed indictment broke that he intended to stand by him&period;<br>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Just like we had before with &lbrack;former Rep&period; Jeff Fortenberry&rsqb; &&num;8230&semi; he was found guilty and then I told him he needed to resign&comma;&&num;8217&semi; McCarthy said&period; Fortenberry was convicted of lying about foreign campaign contributions&period; <br>Santos&comma; the first openly gay Republican member of Congress&comma; made history when he defeated troubled Democrat&comma; Robert Zimmerman&comma; and flipped the New York seat red&period; However&comma; subsequent to winning the 2022 midterm elections to represent New York&&num;8217&semi;s 3rd congressional district&comma; he has been exposed as a pathological liar&period;<br>His Cinderella odyssey appears to have been fueled by lies and fabricated stories about every facet of his life&comma; from his academic background to his family&&num;8217&semi;s heritage&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;

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