GoFundMe booted George Santos off the site after ripping off disabled vet's dog surgery fund: CNN
The crowdfunding site GoFundMe kicked Rep. George Santos (R-NY) off the platform after he allegedly ripped off a disabled veteran whom he had promised to raise $3,000 to get cancer surgery for his service dog, reported Eva McKend on CNN Wednesday.
This comes as Santos comes under scrutiny for a broad array of allegations that he has lied about various aspects of his life in the campaign trial, and has a shady financial history.
"The Navy veteran was connected with Santos ... the dog, Sapphire, had a tumor," said McKend. "Santos posted on Facebook using 'George Devolder' soliciting funds through GoFundMe for the vet and his dog. The post said 'Will you help this baby and her daddy stay together for a few more years? Does he not deserve to have her? Let's all come together to help this family of two stay healthy.' He tried to retrieve the money, but he kept getting the runaround from Santos, and Santos never transferred the $3,000 to the veteran."
Santos, McKend noted, denies the entire story, which was first reported by Patch.com.
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"Eva, what did police have to say? What does GoFundMe have to say?" asked anchor Jake Tapper. "I hesitate to ask, what happened to Sapphire?"
"Sapphire died six months after the last contact with Santos," said McKend. "The owner said he didn't get far with the police when he alerted him. He was forced to panhandle for the money to pay for her euthanization. He described this as really devastating and dehumanizing. GoFundMe tells us they did remove the fundraiser from its platform after receiving a report about it. In a statement they said, 'When we received a report of an issue with this fundraiser in late 2016, our trust and safety team sought proof of the delivery of funds from the organizer. The organizer failed to respond, which led to the fundraiser being removed and the email associated with that account prohibited from further use on our platform.' You know, this is not an isolated incident involving Santos. This appears to be part of a long pattern of deception."
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