Santos told prosecutors he worked for the SEC after being charged with theft in 2017 over $15,125 in checks for ‘puppies’: report

In 2017 George Santos was charged with theft over a series of bad checks to Amish dog breeders totaling $15,125 written from an account he claims was closed after he says he reported a checkbook had gone missing. The changes, made in Pennsylvania, were later dropped and his record expunged after Santos apparently convinced prosecutors he worked for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), but the circumstances leave questions.

"Just days after $15,125 in checks were made out for 'puppies,' according to the memo lines, Santos held an adoption event at a Staten Island pet store with his animal rescue charity Friends of Pets United, according to the store’s Instagram account and a person who attended the event," Politico reports.

In late 2019 or early 2020, Santos reportedly explained to a former middle school classmate who had become an attorney, Politico reports, "because he was involved in politics, he couldn’t have an outstanding charge against him. A week after their meeting, he went to Pennsylvania to address the warrant, and told prosecutors that he 'worked for the S.E.C.,' successfully persuading them to drop the charges, she remembered him telling her after he returned."

Tiffany Bogosian, the former classmate, now says she does not believe what Santos told her.

"Just three days after the $775 check is dated — on Nov. 25, 2017 — Santos’ animal charity Friends of Pets United held a puppy adoption event at the Staten Island pet store Pet Oasis," Politico reports, adding that "in December 2017, Michele Vazzo said she met Santos at Pet Oasis when she adopted a puppy at another event. Santos told her the golden retriever was rescued from an Amish puppy mill. There were many dogs at the charity events, and adoption costs ranged from $300 to $400, she recalled."

Read the entire story at Politico.