The new charges deepen the legal peril for the sitting New York congressman, who likely faces a lengthy prison term if convicted.
US congressman George Santos stole the identities of donors to his campaign and then used their credit cards to ring up tens of thousands of dollars in unauthorised payments, according to a new indictment.
Santos is also accused of falsely reporting to the Federal Elections Commission that he had loaned his campaign $US500,000 when he actually hadn’t given anything and had less than $US8000 in the bank. The fake loan was an attempt to convince Republican Party officials that he was a serious candidate, worth their financial support, the indictment said.
The new charges deepen the legal peril for Santos, who likely faces a lengthy prison term if convicted. So far, he has resisted all calls to resign, insisting he intends to run for reelection next year.
Last week, Marks, a longtime Long Island political bookkeeper, pleaded guilty to a fraud conspiracy charge, telling a judge she helped her former boss hoodwink prospective donors and Republican Party officials by submitting bogus campaign finance reports.The latest indictment said Marks and Santos were involved in the same scheme to fake a $US500,000 campaign loan in order to meet a benchmark that would unlock additional support from a Republican Party committee.
In one instance, Santos allegedly swiped the credit card information of one of his contributors, who had already donated $US5800 to the campaign, to give himself an additional $US15,800 in payments, the indictment said. Because the unauthorised charges exceeded contribution limits under federal law, Santos listed the additional payments as coming from his own unwitting relatives, prosecutors allege.
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