Congressman George Santos, who has been accused of lying about much of his resume, is now alleged to have masterminded an ATM fraud involving a former roommate who has since written to the FBI about the scam.
The embattled Republican has been denounced multiple times as an apparently pathological liar and is now the subject of a House ethics investigation. Despite this, Santos continues to refuse to leave his post.
The latest scandal relates to an identity theft scam that took place in Washington state in 2017.
Gustavo Ribeiro Trelha, who was convicted of credit card fraud in the case, wrote a letter sent to the FBI on Wednesday calling Santos, alias Anthony Devolder, the mastermind behind the crime. He saw devices installed in ATMs that copied customer card data, allowing Trelha, and allegedly Santos, to empty those accounts.
Santos in 2017 spoke to a judge in King County in support of Trelha, whom he referred to as a “family friend.” That’s when the New York Republican told the judge his infamous lie about working for Goldman Sachs, according to political. He also said that he was ‘an aspiring politician’.
Gustavo Ribeiro Trelha (pictured right), who was convicted of credit card fraud in the case, wrote a letter that was sent to the FBI on Wednesday calling Santos (pictured left), aka Anthony Devolder , the person in charge of the crime.
The congressman previously said he was “an informant” in the case and has been questioned about it by the Secret Service, according to political.
‘Santos taught me how to browse the information on the cards and how to clone cards. He gave me all the materials and taught me how to put skimming devices and cameras on ATMs,” Trelha wrote.
The letterDelivered by Trelha’s Long Island-based attorney, Mark Demetropoulous, it was written (and translated from its original Portuguese) after the Brazilian resident saw Santos on television in Congress.
He says he met Santos in 2016, after renting a room in his Florida apartment after chatting in a Facebook group for Brazilians living in Orlando.
Trelha said Santos soon drew him into the scam, which involved a warehouse in Orlando containing “blank paint-and-etch parts, printers, ATMs and credit cards with stolen personal and account information.”
He claims the congressman gave him some of these parts and then showed him how to get the fault out.
Trelha flew thousands of miles across the country to Seattle in 2017, with a plan to split the stolen funds 50/50.
‘We use a computer to be able to download the information of the pieces. We also used an external hard drive to save the footage, because the skimmer took the card information and the camera took the password,” she wrote.
The letter, delivered by Trelha’s Long Island-based attorney Mark Demetropoulous, was written (and translated from its original Portuguese) after Trelha saw Santos on television in Congress.
Trelha says in the statement that she met the now Congressman Santos in 2016, after having rented a room in his apartment in Florida after chatting in a Facebook group for Brazilians living in Orlando.
However, he was captured on security footage removing a skimming device from a Chase ATM.
He was arrested on April 27, 2017. He served seven months in prison after pleading guilty to device fraud before being deported in 2018.
Trelha then goes on to write that Santos visited him in jail and told him not to mention his name to anyone, even threatening his friends in Florida or “making things worse for him” if he did.
However, he promised to get him $20,000 to get out and even said he would hire El Chapo’s lawyer for him, none of which came to pass.
‘Santos did not help me get out of jail. He also stole the money that he had raised for my bail,’ Trelha added.
He ended the statement by saying that he was willing to talk to any US government investigator.
Santos, as he has done with many of the stories revealing his past, denied Politico’s report in a tweet Thursday night.
“With everyone asking, I’ll give a simple answer,” he wrote. ‘The latest madness published by politician is categorically false. Any news organization willing to do good journalism would be happy to sit down with you and go through it all. Be well and stay safe everyone.
Santos, as he has done with many of the stories revealing his past, denied Politico’s report in a tweet Thursday night.
The House Ethics Committee announced a week ago that Santos is officially under an ethics investigation.
He formed a panel to review various charges against him, including allegations about his 2022 congressional campaign and a complaint by a former employee that Santos attempted to engage in sexual misconduct.
Santos has admitted to lying about his education and work history, but says he learned his lesson and vowed that in the future, “everything will always work out.” He has also said that he will run for re-election in 2024.
The ethics investigation comes as even some Republicans have called on Santos to resign.
The investigation will focus on whether Santos ‘engaged in illicit activities in connection with his 2022 campaign for Congress; he failed to adequately disclose the required information about the statements filed with the House; he violated federal conflict of interest laws in connection with his role with a company that provides trust services; and/or engaged in sexual misconduct toward a job seeker in his congressional office,” the House Ethics Committee said in a statement.
The New York Republican congressman resigned from the committee amid questions about his conduct during the midterm elections, including lying about his work history, education and heritage in his campaign bio.
Additionally, a watchdog group claimed he committed multiple campaign finance violations and filed a complaint with the FEC, notably citing questions about his campaign loaning more than $700,000 despite having only $55,000 in earned income.
Santos, 34, is also charged with concealing his true campaign funding source, misrepresenting his campaign spending and using campaign resources to cover personal expenses.
Santos is also under investigation by the district attorney’s office in Nassau County, NY, and by authorities in Brazil.
The official business cards of US Representative George Santos (R-NY) are displayed on his desk on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC
Derek Myers, a former aide to Santos, accused the congressman of sexual misconduct
Rep. George Santos (R-NY) chats with his State of the Union guest and members of his staff as they prepare for the evening at Santos’ office on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC
And a former staffer, Derek Myers, revealed that he filed a complaint with the US Capitol Police and the Congressional Ethics Office alleging Santos groped his groin, asked if he was on the dating app Grindr , invited him home and violated the Chamber’s ethics pay. rules.
Myers said Santos hired him as an assistant on January 25. He said the two were reviewing voter letters when Santos asked Myers if he was on the dating app and explained that he had a profile.
Myers claims that Santos asked him to sit closer after they discussed Grindr and allegedly started touching his leg before inviting him to karaoke.
The assistant said she declined the invitation, but Santos then moved her hand to her “groin area” and assured her that her husband was out of town and invited him.
Santos is already under investigation by the district attorney’s office in Nassau County, New York, which is where his constituency is located. And Brazilian authorities are also seeking to revive a fraud case against him dating back to 2008.
A group of Democrats, along with some Republican support, have moved to expel Santos from Congress.
Those who voted for Santos in New York’s 3rd congressional district began calling for the lawmaker’s resignation. Santos was lauded in the Republican Party after his victory in the 2022 midterm elections when he flipped the district from blue to red and became the first openly gay Republican member elected to the House.
However, soon after he was elected, reports began to emerge revealing that Santos lied about much of his resume, including his career accomplishments, his educational background and even his alleged Jewish heritage.
Lies about the source of the money that enriched his 2022 campaign launched him into deeper trouble, as law enforcement agencies investigate his campaign finance, his oversight of a pet charity and his work for a company that later got caught up. in a Ponzi scheme investigation.
Democrats officially launched an effort last week to oust Santos from the House of Representatives in February, which has happened to only five other lawmakers in the House’s history.
Santos has denied wrongdoing.