George Santos accused of stealing campaign donors' credit card information and paying his own campaign in new superseding indictment

• A 23-count indictment was filed Tuesday against Rep. George Santos for fraud and identity theft.
• Federal prosecutors say the New York Republican stole donor credit card information to pay his own campaign.

Rep. George Santos on Tuesday was hit with 23 new charges of conspiracy, wire and credit card fraud, falsification of records, and aggravated identity theft.

In the superseding indictment, officials for the US Attorney's Office Eastern District of New York said the New York Republican stole donor credit card information to pay his own campaign.

"As alleged, Santos is charged with stealing people's identities and making charges on his own donors' credit cards without their authorization, lying to the FEC and, by extension, the public about the financial state of his campaign," United States Attorney Breon Peace said in a statement announcing the charges. "Santos falsely inflated the campaign's reported receipts with non-existent loans and contributions that were either fabricated or stolen."

Officials in the indictment detailed two different schemes they allege Santos used to present his campaign as more financially viable than it actually was then later steal credit card information from donors to pay for his campaign.

The first involved Santos and his campaign treasurer, Nancy Marks, falsifying FEC campaign fundraising records "for the purpose of misleading the FEC, a national party committee, and the public," according to the indictment. The false documents included a $500,000 loan Santos was recorded to have provided to his campaign, when prosecutors say he couldn't have possibly afforded it — because he had less than $8,000 in his personal and business bank accounts.

In addition prosecutors allege that, between December 2021 and August 2022, Santos developed and executed a plan to systematically steal the identity and financial information of his donors, ultimately transferring the stolen funds to his campaign, the campaigns of other candidates running for office, and to his own bank account.

"Santos repeatedly charged the Contributor's credit card without the Contributor's knowledge or authorization, attempting to make at least $44,800 in charges and repeatedly concealing the true source of funds by falsely listing the source of funds as Santos himself, his relatives and other contributors," per the indictment. "On one occasion, Santos charged $12,000 to the Contributor's credit card, ultimately transferring the vast majority of that money into his personal bank account."

The superseding indictment comes as Santos is already facing a possible 20-year prison sentence for similar charges filed in May, in which federal prosecutors charged him with 13 counts, including charges of wire fraud, money laundering, and theft of public funds. The May indictment detailed accusations against Santos of stealing supporters' money, illegally taking unemployment payouts, and lying to Congress.

Neither Santos' lawyer nor his press secretary immediately responded to requests for comment from Insider. He has previously denied the charges against him.