Federal prosecutors on Tuesday filed a significant array of new charges against Representative George Santos of New York, accusing him of new criminal schemes, including stealing the identities and credit cards of donors to his campaign.
The new accusations were made in a 23-count superseding indictment that laid out how Mr. Santos had charged his donors’ credit cards “repeatedly, without their authorization,” distributing the money to his and other candidates’ campaigns and to his own bank account.
The new indictment filed in the Eastern District of New York added 10 charges against Mr. Santos: conspiracy to commit offenses against the United States, wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, access device fraud, false statements to the Federal Election Commission and falsifying records to obstruct the commission.
The updated indictment came five days after his campaign treasurer, Nancy Marks, pleaded guilty to a felony count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and admitted to her role in fraudulently reporting a fictional $500,000 loan that Mr. Santos claimed to have made to his campaign.
Ms. Marks said in court that she and an unnamed co-conspirator understood to be Mr. Santos, a Republican from New York, agreed to making reports of false donations and falsifying the loan.
“Santos falsely inflated the campaign’s reported receipts with nonexistent loans and contributions that were either fabricated or stolen,” Breon Peace, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said in a statement.
A lawyer for Mr. Santos did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The original indictment filed in May against Mr. Santos, 35, accused him of being involved in three separate financial schemes. Prosecutors charged him with 13 counts of wire fraud, money laundering, stealing public funds and lying on federal disclosure forms.
Mr. Santos, who is seeking re-election in 2024, has pleaded not guilty to the previous charges against him. He has consistently denied any involvement in his campaign’s finances, laying blame for any issues or discrepancies on Ms. Marks.
