An aide to Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) who reportedly impersonated House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s former chief of staff was charged with wire fraud and identity theft in a federal indictment that was unsealed Wednesday.
Samuel Miele was charged with four counts of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.
Miele was released on $150,000 bond after pleading not guilty at his arraignment Wednesday morning in Brooklyn federal court, The New York Times reports.
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Prosecutors accuse Miele of sending “fraudulent fund-raising” emails to people soliciting contributions to an unnamed candidate in which he claimed to be a “high-ranking aide to a member of the House with leadership responsibilities,” according to the indictment.
The indictment alleges Miele got a cut of the funds he raised.
“Through this fraudulent scheme, the defendant Samuel Miele solicited contributions for the campaign from more than one dozen potential contributors,” the indictment said. “Where successfully raised, these contributions were transferred, through an intermediary service, into the campaign’s bank account... . For his efforts, Miele received a commission of 15 percent of each contribution.”
Santos is not named in the indictment, and it does not include details about the aide Miele reportedly impersonated.
But The New York Times, among other outlets, previously reported that he pretended to be McCarthy’s chief of staff in an effort to solicit contributions.
According to the indictment, Miele admitted to a person identified as Candidate 1 to “faking my identity to a big donor," but said he was "high risk, high reward in everything I do."
Santos is facing legal troubles of his own.
The freshman congressman accused of making spectacular fabrications about his personal life in May was charged in a 13-count federal indictment that alleges he misled donors, stole from his campaign and lied to Congress about his finances while collecting unemployment benefits.
