George Santos' Employment, Education, May Have Been Fabricated: Report

LONG ISLAND, NY — An explosive new report from the New York Times on Monday called into question much of Republican Rep.-Elect George Santos' resume and backstory.

The Times investigated previous employers, colleges, companies and nonprofits that Santos said qualified him to represent Long Island's 3rd Congressional District during his campaign, but was unable to find evidence supporting many claims.

"Citigroup and Goldman Sachs, the marquee Wall Street firms on Mr. Santos’s campaign biography, told the Times they had no record of his ever working there," the New York Times reported Monday.

"Officials at Baruch College, which Mr. Santos has said he graduated from in 2010, could find no record of anyone matching his name and date of birth graduating that year."

The Times also discovered that Santos' firm, the Devolder Organization, disclosed no clients, and that there were no records of Santos or his family having real estate holdings, even though Santos has attributed some of his wealth to a family real estate fortune, the Times said.

The Times could also not locate a tax-exempt nonprofit Santos said he created, called Friends of Pets United, that allegedly rescued dogs and cats.

Santos is the son of Brazilian immigrants and his campaign repeatedly stressed how his life story was an example of the "American dream." The Times uncovered court records from 2008 in Brazil showing that Santos "stole the checkbook of a man his mother was caring for [and] used the checkbook to make fraudulent purchases, including a pair of shoes. Two years later, Mr. Santos confessed to the crime and was later charged."

Santos also claimed that four of his employees at an unnamed company died in the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando in 2016. The Times could not find any records of victims that worked for Santos.

Santos flipped the district, which covers North Nassau and parts of Queens, from blue to red in November, beating out Democratic candidate Robert Zimmerman.

The new report that Santos, 34, may have lied about his history comes after other questions emerged surrounding the first-time elected official, including his recent attendance at a gala with groups connected to white nationalist movements, and a report that he received campaign money connected to a Putin-aligned Russian oligarch.

An employer that Santos can be connected to, Harbor City Capitol, was sued by the SEC for running a $17 million Ponzi scheme. Santos became Harbor City Capital’s New York regional director in June 2020 and was not named in the SEC complaint, The Daily Beast reported.

Questions about the origins of Santos' own personal $700,000 contribution to his own campaign, and whether his Democratic opponents checked Santos' claims, remain unanswered.

In August, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee released a report called "The Case Against George Santos" which detailed his attendance at former President Donald Trump's "Stop the Steal" rally. The report also looked into what it called Santos' "history of shady finances."

"Santos failed to file a Personal Financial Disclosure (PFD) for 2021 or 2022 — something he knows is required of a congressional candidate. It begs the question: what is Santos hiding? Santos failed to disclose any assets or money in his bank accounts on his 2020 PFD, yet loaned his campaign more than $80,000, and has continued to self-fund his 2022 campaign – including a self loan of half a million dollars in the first quarter of 2022."

Nassau County Legislator Josh Lafazan urged Santos to resign Monday.

"My phone has been ringing off the hook," he told Patch.

"My constituents have been outraged, whether they voted for him or not. They were straight up lied to, about a mass shooting. This person is disqualified to serve in any office and should be pressured to resign."

Zimmerman told Patch that his campaign attempted to call attention to what he called "George Santos’ scams and lies about himself" and called for federal investigations of the possible fraudulent claims.

"The reality is Santos flat out lied to the voters of NY-03. He’s violated the public trust in order to win office and does not deserve to represent Long Island and Queens. Santos' failure to answer any of the questions about these allegations demonstrates why he is unfit for public office and should resign. It demonstrates why there must be a House Ethics Committee, Federal Elections Commission, and U.S. Attorney investigation immediately."

Santos did not respond to Patch's requests for comment, and he did not furnish the Times with supporting documents or more information.

Santos shared a statement from his attorney Joseph Murray:

"It is no surprise that Congressman-elect Santos has enemies at the New York Times who are attempting to smear his good name with these defamatory allegations."