Brazilian officials are renewing a criminal case against Congressman-elect George Santos, telling the New York Times that a formal request will be made to the Department of Justice to notify him of pending fraud charges.
The New York Republican is set to be sworn in Tuesday amid calls for his resignation after the Times reported Santos fabricated large parts of his resume, including work experience and education. Santos financial dealings are also under investigation.
According to Brazilian prosecutors, Santos is alleged to have made a purchase with a stolen checkbook in 2008. The case was suspended for nearly a decade because prosecutors could not locate Santos.
According to prosecutors, just before his 20th birthday, Santos used a stolen check to make nearly $700 in purchases in a clothing store in a small town outside Rio de Janeiro.
A little over a year later, Santos wrote on a Brazilian social media app, “I know I screwed up, but I want to pay.”
Santos’ mother worked for the man who owned the checkbook and she and Santos told police in 2010 that Santos wrote fraudulent checks. A Brazilian judge approved the charges in September 2011, ordering Santos to respond.
But Santos was gone less than a month later, leaving Brazil for the United States.
Santos denied ever having criminal charges against him anywhere in the world in an interview with the New York Post.
“I am not a criminal here — not here or in Brazil or any jurisdiction in the world,” Santos told the Post. “Absolutely not. That didn’t happen.”
Santos helped Republicans win a narrow House majority during the November midterms, flipping a hotly contested, Democrat-controlled seat.
Santos was elected to represent New York’s 3rd Congressional District on Long Island, becoming the first openly gay Republican to be elected to the House.
The Times and other outlets reported that Santos lied about working for Goldman Sachs and Citigroup and graduating from Baruch College. He falsely claimed that he lost employees in the 2016 Pulse Night Club shooting where 49 people were killed and 53 wounded during the attack in Orlando, Fla.
The Nassau County district attorney announced a probe into Santos, while federal investigators are taking a look at a possible misuse of funds during the campaign trail.
