US elected official expelled from Congress pleads guilty to financial fraud

Former Republican Rep. Jorge Santos, expelled from the US Congress for lying on his CV and financing a lavish lifestyle with money stolen from donors, pleaded guilty Monday to fraud and identity theft, federal justice announced.

The former New York elected official faces 2 to 22 years in prison and is scheduled for sentencing on February 7.

“Former Congressman George Santos appeared in court behind me and finally told the truth under oath, the truth is that he is a criminal. Santos pleaded guilty to serious crimes and misdemeanors, including fraud and identity theft,” Brian Pease, a federal prosecutor in Eastern New York, told reporters.

36 year old Mr. Santos faces a “minimum prison term of two years and a maximum of 22 years,” according to a Justice Ministry press release, and must pay a total of $578,000 in fines.

Nicknamed by the press as a serial liar, Mr. Santos was expelled from Congress on December 1, an extremely rare occurrence.

A year earlier he had been elected vice president for the New York constituency, including part of the borough of Queens and part of Nassau County on Long Island.

Jorge Santos initially pleaded not guilty to 23 charges brought by the Brooklyn federal prosecutor’s office.

The son of Brazilian immigrants, he presented himself as a “Republican freshman” during the November 2022 legislative elections, and built his image from lies about his education, religion, work experience, assets and salary.

He went so far as to falsify his family history, claiming to be descended from Jewish Holocaust survivors who allegedly survived Nazi atrocities during World War II. He falsely claimed to have graduated from New York University and worked for US banks such as Goldman Sachs or Citigroup.

His lies were exposed by a New York Times investigation while he was already in Congress.