George Santos pitched scheme that 'resembled the classic Nigerian prince' scam: NYT
Rep. George Santos (R-NY) pitched a bizarre get-rich-quick scheme to a Republican donor a year before his election, according to a New York Times report detailing all the ways the indicted congressman has tried to leverage politics to make money.
The Times reports that the scheme involved "a wealthy Polish citizen wanted to buy cryptocurrency... but for reasons unclear, his fortune was frozen in a bank account."
Santos and his associates were asked by the donor for the Polish man's name and they did not give it to him. What's more, the men's plan to access the Polish man's funds by setting up a limited liability corporation "made no sense" to the donor, reports the Times.
Santos was working with former GOP state Assemblyman Michael LiPetri and Bryant Park Associates, a company held by another GOP donor, Dominick Sartorio.
Per the report, the donor suspected this was a scam, because it took the form of the "the classic Nigerian prince email scheme, in which a rich, potentially fictitious, foreigner asks an outsider to help free up frozen assets," reported the Times.
LiPietri and Sartorio have both distanced themselves from their involvement in this scheme, and a lawyer representing Santos denies any scam and said that Santos did nothing more than introduce the donor to the Polish cryptocurrency buyer. However, this is one of many other strange financial deals Santos has been involved in; he previously worked with Harbor City Capital, which was shut down as a Ponzi scheme and which he defended as "legitimate" even after receiving warnings.
Santos has been mired in scandal ever since reporting that he lied about almost every aspect of his life on the campaign trail, from his educational background to his work experience to his ethnic heritage, and has faced questions about campaign finance irregularities and a scheme in which he allegedly tried to make off with money for a veteran's dying service dog.
In May, Santos was hit with 13 federal charges, including wire fraud, unemployment benefits fraud, money laundering, and false statements to Congress. Prosecutors allege he conned both GOP donors and state agencies out of money he then used to support his lavish lifestyle. Santos denies all allegations against him, and while many New York Republicans have called on him to resign, House GOP leadership has done nothing but refer the matter to the Ethics Committee.