Known for his lies, elected Republican George Santos charged with fraud

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Republican lawmaker in the US House of Representatives George Santos, whose lies have made political and media headlines since his election in 2022, was arrested Wednesday morning and charged with 13 financial fraud , announced the American justice. 

The 34-year-old elected official from New York State, indicted by a grand jury, “is in custody” in federal court in the awaiting his appearance Wednesday afternoon, said a spokesperson for the federal prosecutor's office for the Eastern District of New York.

He was charged with wire fraud, money laundering, embezzlement of public funds and making false statements to the House of Representatives, a prosecutor's statement listed.

The indictment charges George Santos of defrauding donors for his election campaign by transferring the money to his personal bank account.

He is also accused of making false financial statements to the House of Representatives about his property and its income.

He is also accused of having received unemployment benefits to which he was not entitled before his election to Congress.

After his election in November, and following revelations from the New York Times , George Santos had admitted to grossly lying about whole swathes of his life to embellish his CV, but he has since remained deaf to calls for his resignation.

Born to parents from Brazil, the one who presented as a symbol of the “American dream” was accused of having lied or of having exaggerated reality by presenting himself as “an American proud to be Jewish”, or even as the grandson of Holocaust survivors who fled the Nazi barbarism.

He is the subject of multiple investigations, from Congress to Brazil.

Asked about the possible indictment of George Santos, the Republican leader of the House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy said on Tuesday he would look at “the charges” before considering any kind of expulsion from Congress.