US Congressman arrested for forging his resume | George Santos’ last lie: plead not guilty

Republican legislator of Brazilian descent, George Santos, He was arrested on Wednesday on various charges including Electronic fraud, money laundering, misappropriation of public funds, and lying to Congress. Despite the charges against him, the New York congressman pleaded not guilty and predicted he would seek re-election.

Santos, who was to appear this afternoon before Judge Anne Y. Shields, of the central district of Islip, in Suffolk County, east of New York, He was released on $500,000 bail. However, on June 30, he must again appear before justice.

this He was charged with thirteen charges in totalSeven counts of fraud, three counts of money laundering, one of stealing public funds, and two of making false statements before the House of Representatives.And As stated by the Ministry of Justice.

According to the details of the indictment, Santos urged his supporters to donate to the company Arguing that said money would be used to support his campaign, which he eventually used for personal expenses, including luxury clothing and credit card payments.

The Republican is also accused Lie about your money on congressional financial disclosure forms, which are the papers House candidates must file before the election, along with their assets and income.

There is also On charges of embezzlement and forgery of campaign funds and sexual harassment of a man It was alleged that he offered them work and later retracted when his advances were rejected.

If convicted, the 34-year-old lawmaker could face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison..

However, this situation did not seem to matter to the RepublicanHe signed that he intended to run for re-election. “Yes (…) I will not resign,” Santos told reporters.

A life of lies

Santos admitted that he invented a large part of his biography, Including your religion (falsely claiming to be Jewish), your study and work experience, To run for a seat in the House of Representatives in the last year’s legislatures, representing areas of Long Island, New York.

In an interview with TV presenter Piers Morgan earlier this year, he admitted to lying on his resume: “You were a terrible liar,” he said. “It was not about deceiving the people, it was about accepting the party,” he added.

The representative was elected to Congress last fall after a campaign in which he claimed he was a top Wall Street dealmaker with a large real estate portfolio and was a star volleyball player in college, among other lies.

However, it was discovered that he did not work for the large financial firms where he said he did, did not attend college and was in serious financial trouble before running for public office.

His Republican choice helped secure a narrow majority over Democrats led by Joe Biden in the House of Representatives, and he won the Nassau County seat on Long Island, east of New York City.

After his history of lying was made public, Several of Pancadal’s comrades suggested he resign, but Santos refused.

In this context, the influential Republican Senator Mitt Romney called, on Wednesday, for his immediate resignation. “It doesn’t seem like things are going well for Santos,” the former presidential candidate said in court.