Fraud-convicted GOP candidate accused of exploiting five ex-wives: report

A San Diego Republican is running for Congress despite a decades-long record of fraud, false claims, and ex-wives who feel exploited.

According to a Monday article by the San Diego Union-Tribune, Jeff Belle is the only Republican challenging longtime Rep. Juan Vargas (D-CA) in South County, and roughly 42,000 people, which is a third of primary voters, backed him in June.

Belle has been convicted of check fraud, charged with lying on election paperwork, and fined for practicing respiratory therapy without a California license, which is a penalty he has vowed never to pay, according to court records, interviews, and a state investigation cited by the Union-Tribune.

Five former wives told the Union-Tribune that Belle, who married and divorced at least eight times, took advantage of them financially. One former wife said he ran up thousands in credit-card debt in her name. His most recent ex-wife, a National City physical therapist, said he steered her into nearly $200,000 in risky financing before her clinic neared bankruptcy. A 79-year-old retired law-enforcement leader said she loaned him about $40,000 that remains unpaid.

"Jeff destroyed me financially," wrote another ex-wife, Casey Jones, who launched a public crusade against him by writing about their three-month marriage in a memoir, in comments to the local news media, and in a Facebook group she created, the Union-Tribune reported.

The Union-Tribune also could not verify Belle's claims of working as a U.S. Senate staffer, a federal lobbyist, or a private-equity CEO. The Native American tribe he said he lobbied for had never heard of him, and his supposed firm is legally owned by a former associate who sued him, alleging a con.

Belle denied the allegations and compared himself to President Donald Trump. He dismissed his accusers as "jealous," according to the Union-Tribune. He has not filed the financial disclosures required of congressional candidates, the Union-Tribune added.

Vargas was first elected in 2012 and has won every race with at least 65 percent of the vote, the Union-Tribune added.