NEW YORK (AP) — A New York Republican who won a U.S. House seat in November is under pressure to explain himself amid evidence he fabricated parts of his life story .
During his campaign, 34-year-old George Santos boasted impressive academic and professional credentials and portrayed himself as the embodiment of the American dream. After growing up in a working-class immigrant family in Queens and earning a high school equivalency diploma, he said he had a meteoric rise in the world of finance, culminating in his participation in “deals history on Wall Street”.
Still, a college where Santos said he earned a degree in finance could not find records indicating he attended. Several companies where Santos said he worked had no record of him as an employee.
Potential issues with Santos’ resume were first reported Monday by the New York Times. The newspaper also raised questions about the veracity of other aspects of Santos’ life story and revealed that he faces an unsolved criminal fraud investigation in Brazil, where his family once lived.
A lawyer for Santos did not respond to questions about his personal history, but suggested he was being targeted by people “threatened” by his policies.
“It’s no surprise that Congressman-elect Santos has enemies in the New York Times trying to smear his reputation with these defamatory allegations,” attorney Joseph Murray said in a statement.
In a detailed biography previously posted on his campaign website, Santos said he graduated from Baruch College in 2010 with a degree in economics and finance. Baruch, however, said he couldn’t find any records showing that anyone with Santos’ name and birthdate had ever graduated.
The biography states that Santos then worked at Citigroup, where he became “an associate asset manager in the real assets division.” But a Citigroup spokeswoman, Danielle Romero Apsilos, said the company had no documentation showing Santos had ever been an employee.
Santos’ biography states that he later worked for investment banking giant Goldman Sachs. This company also said it had no record of his employment.
A different biography posted on the Republican National Congressional Committee website said Santos earned a second degree at New York University. An NYU spokesperson said he was also unable to find any documentation indicating that Santos had been a student. An email was sent to the NRCC asking how the information was obtained.
Santos also said he worked for two other companies, LinkBridge Investors and Metglobal. Two emails and a message seeking comment from LifeBridge went unanswered, as did two emails sent to Metglobal.
Records in Brazil, uncovered by The Times, show Santos was the subject of a criminal investigation there in 2008 following allegations that he used stolen checks to buy items from a clothing store in the city of Niteroi. At the time, Santos would have been 19 years old. The archives contain photos of Santos with members of his family. The Times quoted local prosecutors as saying the case was dormant because Santos never appeared in court.
Santos first ran for Congress in 2020, losing to Tom Suozzi, a Democrat. He ran again in 2022, facing Democrat Robert Zimmerman in a district that includes a few Long Island suburbs and a small slice of Queens.
In a statement posted on social media, Zimmerman called for investigations by the House Ethics Committee, the Federal Election Commission and federal prosecutors.
“Santos’ failure to answer any of the questions regarding these allegations demonstrates why he is unfit for public office and should resign,” Zimmerman said.
Nassau County Republican Committee Chairman Joseph Cairo Jr. called the issues “serious” but said Santos deserved a chance to address them.
“Everyone deserves an opportunity to ‘clear’ their name from the charges,” Cairo said in a statement. “I am committed to this principle and look forward to the member-elect’s responses to the reports.”
On social media, Santos presented himself as a successful real estate investor whose family owned several properties. Still, records indicate he had financial problems. Court records indicate that Santos faced three eviction proceedings in Queens between 2014 and 2017 due to unpaid rent.
In the summer of 2020, Santos was hired by Harbor City Capitol Corp. a Florida-based investment firm. This company, however, ceased its activities in 2021 after being charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission to be a multi-million dollar Ponzi scheme.
Santos was not named in the SEC complaint. He told The Daily Beast Earlier this year he was shocked by allegations of wrongdoing.
After leaving Harbor City, Santos registered a company called the Devolder Organization with the state of Florida, according to state records.
In the financial disclosure form Filed with the House of Representatives in September, Santos said the company pays him an annual salary of $750,000 and at least $1 million in dividends. He described the company’s business as “advising on the introduction of capital”. His only other listed asset was an apartment in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which he said was worth between $500,000 and $1 million.
In documents filed with the Federal Election Commission, Santos said he loaned his campaign at least $630,000 from his personal fortune.
Santos was registered to vote at a modest Queens townhouse he doesn’t own, but he moved out before the election. Its former landlord, Nancy Pothos, 72, said Santos had been a tenant for two years before moving in late August.
Santos’ campaign spokesperson and his lawyer did not respond to a list of questions about his business, possible discrepancies in his biography or the criminal case in Brazil.
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