George Santos Reportedly Dodged Theft Charges in 2017 After Claiming He Worked for the Securities and Exchange Commission

Rep. George Santos (R-NY) faced charges in Pennsylvania in 2017 for allegedly committing theft by issuing bad checks, Politico reported on Thursday.

The charges were expunged in 2021 after Santos told prosecutors he “worked for the SEC” – the Securities and Exchange Commission – according to attorney Tiffany Bogosian, a former friend of Santos who assisted in his efforts to resolve the issue.

Bogosian, who met Santos in middle school, revealed she reconnected with Santos in 2019 for the first time in years. She alleged that Santos told her that he lost a bid for Congress, although he did not launch his first congressional campaign until November 2019. The next year, Santos visited her at her office, asking for legal advice.

He reportedly explained to her he lost a checkbook in 2017 and eventually canceled it, but the NYPD served an extradition warrant on him in February 2020 on charges in Pennsylvania. Bogosian sent an email to a Pennsylvania state trooper relaying Santos’ explanation, even providing photos of canceled checks with signatures that did not match the one on Santos’ New York state identification card.

Santos later told Bogosian that the charges were expunged after he went to Pennsylvania. She recalled that he claimed that he worked at the SEC.

Several checks totaling $15,125 were issued in November 2017, some with memo lines referencing “puppies” and cut to Amish dog breeders. Politico reported:

Later that same year, in December 2017, Michele Vazzo said she met Santos at Pet Oasis when she adopted a puppy at another event. Santos told her the golden retriever was rescued from an Amish puppy mill. There were many dogs at the charity events, and adoption costs ranged from $300 to $400, she recalled.

Shortly after Santos wrote the checks, he held a dog auction in Staten Island through his supposed charity, Friends of Pets United, which is not officially registered. People who purchased the puppies from Santos reported the amount and recipient of the checks they issued to the charity at the event were altered to go to Santos directly.

Santos’ charges in York County, Pennsylvania, were expunged on November 24, 2021. Pennsylvania officials did not issue comment about the matter.

Bogosian previously told the Washington Post in January that she introduced a client to Santos in 2020, shortly after they reconnected. Santos tried to get the client to invest money won from a lawsuit with a firm Santos worked for — but the SEC later determined was a Ponzi Scheme. After Bogosian’s client refused to invest with Santos, Santos became irate, and Bogosian began doubting more and more of the information Santos had told her.

Jacqueline Sweet, the reporter who wrote the story and has reported on Santos several times, explained to CNN, “There was a trace of the expunged charge in some background reports, but… there was no information available from the court.”

Watch above via CNN.

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