George Santos charged with conspiracy, wire fraud and more

Washington — Embattled New York Rep. George Santos was indicted on new federal charges on Tuesday in a superseding indictment — including conspiracy, wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and credit card fraud — just days after his former campaign treasurer pleaded guilty and admitted to much of the conduct, according to court documents.

Prosecutors in the Eastern District of New York newly alleged that Santos and ex-campaign treasurer Nancy Marks submitted false financial reports to the Federal Election Commission that inflated the campaign’s fundraising numbers in an effort to qualify for certain perks, benefits, and support from Republican Party leaders. 

The 10 new charges included in the superseding indictment unsealed Tuesday also include fresh allegations that Santos used individuals’ personal credit card information to make unauthorized charges in support of his political campaign. The victims, according to the charges, were previous donors to the campaign who had provided their personal information when contributing funds to Santos. 

In one instance, the court documents unsealed Tuesday reveal Santos allegedly racked up $15,800 in charges on a contributor’s credit card, a sum far higher than federal campaign laws permit. That donor “did not know of or authorize charges exceeding such limits,” prosecutors said. 

Santos pleaded not guilty earlier this year to a slew of charges from an original indictment that included accusations that he devised an alleged scheme to defraud prospective supporters of his 2022 congressional campaign. Prosecutors alleged he used solicited campaign donations on personal expenses including luxury designer clothes, credit card and car payments, and payments on personal debts.

The congressman is set to appear in federal court on October 27, where he will likely be arraigned on the new charges against him. Representatives for Santos’ office did not respond to CBS News’ request for comment. Santos’ attorney, Joseph Murray, declined to comment.

Investigators alleged that Santos, Marks, and others were aware in 2021 of a $250,000 fundraising threshold that the campaign had to meet to qualify for Republican Party backing. 

“We’re going to do this a little differently. I got it,” Santos allegedly said in a text message responding to questions about the funding qualification, court documents reveal, and subsequently hatched a plan with Marks to falsely claim that 10 donors, including some of his family members, contributed thousands of dollars to his campaign when in fact, they had not. 

Those false donations, according to the superseding indictment, were then allegedly included on a Federal Election Commission year-end report. Santos and Marks, the new charging documents alleged, “knew that none of these reported contributions were true.” 

The pair also allegedly lied about a loan they said Santos had provided to his campaign in an effort to bolster the campaign’s prospects heading into the election. In April 2022, according to the superseding indictment, the Santos campaign published fake fundraising totals and reported to both national party officials and the FEC that Santos had loaned his campaign $500,000. Prosecutors say Santos “had less than $8,000 in his personal and business bank accounts” at the time.

The alleged scheme, according to prosecutors, was carried out in an effort to make Santos’ campaign “appear more financially sound than it was.” 

Last week, Marks pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit offenses against the United States, which included much of the new alleged conduct charge against Santos. 

While it is unclear from court documents whether the plea agreement Marks entered requires her to cooperate with prosecutors, her attorney said outside the courthouse last week that she would testify in Santos’ prosecution if subpoenaed. 

Santos, a freshman congressman who represents New York’s 3rd Congressional District, has been dogged by allegations that he inflated his resume and lied about his past experience to bolster his election chances in his 2022 political campaign. He has admitted that he “embellished” his resume. He has spent much of his tenure in Congress haunted by questions about his education and professional experience, as well as his finances and campaign spending.