George Santos, the Republican congressman-elect for a House seat based in Long Island and Queens, New York, was seemingly exposed as a fraudster by The New York Times on Monday, but even more questions are now arising after he appears to have filed paperwork on Tuesday stating his place of residence is in Florida.
That’s according to two investigative articles from Talking Points Memo.
On Tuesday evening TPM reported that in May of 2021 Santos registered his company, Devolder Organization LLC, which has no website and it’s unclear what the operation actually does, in Florida.
“On his congressional disclosure form he reported $750,000 in income from the company and between $1 million and $5 million in dividends,” TPM adds. “This compares with $55,000 in income he reported two years earlier from a different employer when he ran for the same seat in 2020. But the company was dissolved in September 2022, the same month as the disclosure form was filed, because the company never filed an annual report.”
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One day after The New York Times bombshell that appears to show Santos’ claims about where he worked, lived, and went to college are false, the incoming GOP lawmaker “filed documents to have his company reinstated” in Florida.
Just before midnight, the sleuths at TPM added yet another bombshell to the Santos story.
When Santos filled those documents “he listed himself as the registered agent.”
TPM calls that “significant,” and explains why.
“A corporation operating in a jurisdiction needs a registered agent so people and courts will have someone to go to to deliver summons, warrants, court filings, all manner of official stuff. You can either use a service which does this for a fee or you can list an individual. Under Florida law that individual must be a resident of Florida. So when Santos filed this form today he attested that he is in fact a resident of the state of Florida.”
Is Santos, the 34-year old congressman-elect for a seat in the state of New York, actually a resident of the state of Florida?
Many questions are still swirling about Santos, who has made no effort to prove his claims.
Where did he actually work? Why have none of his employers or co-workers at the companies he claimed to have worked, Citigroup and Goldman Sachs, come forward to testify on his behalf?
Where did he actually go to college? Did he go to college? Did he graduate? He says he attended NYU and Baruch College. Neither school could confirm he was registered. Does he have former classmates or professors who will support his claims?
Does he still have unresolved criminal charges pending against him in Brazil?
Why did he claim his company lost four employees in the Pulse nightclub hate crime mass shooting, which The Times could also not substantiate?
If he lives in New York how do his constituents feel about his business operating, and presumably paying taxes, in Florida?
Why was his alleged charity never registered with the IRS for non-profit status? And why does it not appear to have a web presence? And why did the supposed recipient of its sole fundraiser say they never received the funds from that event?
The Daily Beast adds, Santos “has said that his family has a real-estate portfolio, claiming in February that they own 13 properties. But the Times says the only real estate he listed on financial disclosure forms was an apartment in Rio de Janeiro—and no records of other property could be found.” Why?
How could Santos have gone from being evicted, twice, according to The Times, over a total of $12,000 in unpaid rent, to less than five years later self-funding his congressional campaign and claiming to have an annual income of $750,000 along with, as The Beast notes, “millions in dividends as an owner of the Devolder Organization,” while The Times “said it could not locate any assets for the Florida-registered company”?
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