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Republican George Santos arrested on federal criminal charges

Published:Wednesday | May 10, 2023 | 8:40 AM
Representative George Santos leaves a House GOP conference meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington, January 25, 2023. Santos has been arrested on federal criminal charges. The Republican congressman has faced outrage over revelations he fabricated parts of his life story, including lying about being a wealthy Wall Street dealmaker. Santos was arrested Wednesday. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

CENTRAL ISLIP, NY (AP) — US Representative George Santos, the New York Republican infamous for fabricating key parts of his life story, was arrested on federal criminal charges on Wednesday ahead of an expected court appearance.

The indictment says Santos induced supporters to donate to a company under the false pretence that the money would be used to support his campaign. Instead, it says, he used it for personal expenses, including luxury designer clothes and to pay off his credit cards.

US Attorney Breon Peace said the indictment “seeks to hold Santos accountable for various alleged fraudulent schemes and brazen misrepresentations.”

“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,” Peace said.

Santos was expected to make an initial court appearance at a federal courthouse on Long Island later Wednesday, at which time the charges against him would be unsealed.

Reached by the AP on Tuesday, Santos said he was unaware of the charges.

Santos was elected to Congress last fall after a campaign built partly on falsehoods. He told people he was a wealthy Wall Street dealmaker with a substantial real estate portfolio who had been a star volleyball player in college, among other things. In reality, he didn't work at the big financial firms he claimed had employed him, didn't go to college and had struggled financially before his run for public office.

Questions about his finances also surfaced. In regulatory filings, Santos said he loaned his campaign and related political action committees more than $750,000, but it was unclear how he would have come into that kind of wealth so quickly after years in which he struggled to pay his rent and faced multiple eviction proceedings.

Many of Santos' fellow New York Republicans called on him to resign after his history of fabrications was revealed. Some renewed their criticism of him as news of the criminal case spread.

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