Judge to Santos: I.D. co-signers of $500K bond

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Santos allegedly used the funds for personal purchases, to withdrew cash, to transfer money to his associates and to settle personal debts, officials said.

In June 2020, officials said Santos was employed as a regional director for a Florida-based investment firm, but applied for government assistance through the New York State Department of Labor, claiming he had been unemployed since March 2020. From March 2020 to April 2021, officials said Santos received more than $24,000 in fraudulent unemployment insurance benefits.

In May 2020, Santos filed two fraudulent House disclosures in connection with his unsuccessful run for Congress against former U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi, officials said.

In those disclosures, he allegedly overstated the income he received from a second company he worked at and did not disclose the salary he received from the Florida-based investment firm, according to officials.

In September 2022, during his most recent run for Congress, Santos falsely claimed he earned $750,000 in salary from the Devolder Organization LLC, of which he was the sole beneficial owner, received between $1 million and $5 million in dividends from the Devolder Organization LLC, had a checking account with deposits between $100,001 and $250,000 and had a savings accounts with deposits between $1 million and $5 million, according to officials.

He also failed to disclose to the House that he received around $28,000 in income from the Florida-based investment firm and more than $20,000 in unemployment benefits from the labor department, according to officials.

Santos defeated Democrat Robert Zimmerman in the 3rd Congressional District election in November. He announced the launch of his re-election campaign in April, despite a lack of support from local and state GOP organizations, including the Nassau County Republican Party. House Republicans blocked a resolution aimed at expelling Santos following the indictment, with the measure failing to pass in a 221-204 party-line vote in which all Republicans voted no. The expulsion of any member of Congress would require a two-thirds majority vote.

U.S. Rep. Anthony D’Esposito (R-Island Park), who represents New York’s 4th Congressional District, said he supported expelling Santos from Congress but said referring Santos to the House Ethics Committee was a more effective way to remove Santos since not enough Republicans would vote in support the resolution to expel him.

“Since we don’t yet have the needed two-thirds supermajority to expel Santos, the quickest way to rid this institution of this stain is to refer this issue to the House Ethics Committee,” D’Esposito said in a statement.

Republican officials referred the resolution to the House Ethics Committee, which has been probing Santos’ campaign and financial background since March. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican, said following the vote he wants the committee to “move rapidly” on the resolution.

D’Esposito has made his desire to have Santos expelled from the House to McCarthy, according to the congressman’s communications director, Matt Capp.