on Wednesday, with the Justice Department charging him with 13 criminal counts related to various schemes the serial liar has allegedly perpetrated in recent years. The arrest couldn’t be less surprising considering what’s already been revealed about the Long Island congressman’s rich history as a con artist.
“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,” U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said in a statement. “He used political contributions to line his pockets, unlawfully applied for unemployment benefits that should have gone to New Yorkers who had lost their jobs due to the pandemic, and lied to the House of Representatives.
Santos was charged with seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of theft of public funds, and two counts of making materially false statements to Congress. The indictment outlines three primary schemes:Prosecutors alleged that in June 2020, Santos applied for unemployment insurance benefits in New York, claiming to have been out of work since that March. Santos allegedly continued to certify that he was unemployed and eligible for benefits.
The alleged scam is even more egregious considering Santos has been working in Congress to toughen work requirements for Medicaid recipients, as Slate’s Mark Joseph Stern pointed out on Wednesday: George Santos, who's currently demanding stricter work requirements for Medicaid beneficiaries, is accused of fraudulently collecting unemployment benefits while earning a $120,000 salary, a felony offense.
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