Long Island Rep. George Santos May Have Faked His Resumé: Report

An investigation into newly-elected New York Republican Rep. George Santos found that he may have fabricated work and education experience in his résumé.

In his campaign biography, Santos said he is the son of Brazilian immigrants and studied at a New York City public college to become a "seasoned Wall Street financier and investor." He also listed in his résumé 13 real estate properties and an animal rescue group that saved more than 2,500 dogs and cats.

But an investigation by The New York Times revealed that most of the details in his campaign biography could not be authenticated.

Citigroup and Goldman Sachs denied that Santos ever worked for them as an investor, according to the Times' report.

Baruch College told the publication that it could not find any record matching his name and date of birth indicating that Santos graduated from the institution in 2010 "with a bachelor's degree in economics and finance."

New York University also found no attendance records matching Santos' name and birth date despite Santos claiming in his biography that he had a stint there.

The investigation also revealed that Santos' animal rescue group, Friends of Pets United, is not a tax-exempt organization after the Internal Revenue Service could not find any record of a charity with that name.

Santos claimed in 2021 that his family had not received any rent from the tenants at their real estate properties due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the New York Daily News reported. But the Times' investigation didn't find any records of those properties existing in New York City or Nassau County.

The report also showed that Santos had a criminal record in Brazil after he stole a checkbook in 2008 from a man his mother was caring for and used it to make fraudulent purchases.

Santos confessed to the crime and was later charged, but the case in Brazil remains unresolved as he did not appear in court after a summons was issued.

A statement from a lawyer for the congressman-elect accused the newspaper of smearing his client's good name with "defamatory allegations."

"After four years in the public eye, and on the verge of being sworn in as a member of the Republican-led 118th Congress, the New York Times launches this shotgun blast of attacks. It is no surprise that Congressman-elect Santos has enemies at the New York Times who are attempting to smear his good name with these defamatory allegations," Santos' lawyer Joseph Murray said.

The New York Working Families Party urged Santos to step down following the allegations, claiming that he "lied to voters and is unfit to serve in any public office."

Despite the claims of faking his biography, Nassau County Republican Committee Chairman Joseph Cairo Jr. asked the public to give Santos an opportunity to address the NYT report, NBC New York reported.