FBI examines claim George Santos stole dog’s surgery money

George Santos, the American Republican congressman with a history of lying, has been accused of fundraising con.

George Santos is accused of helping to raise $US3000 to save pitbull Sapphire before making off with the money. Picture montage: The Times

George Santos, the Republican congressman accused of fabricating much of his life story, is being investigated by the FBI over allegations that he stole money from a fundraising campaign intended to cover lifesaving surgery for a veteran’s dog.

Agents with the FBI have interviewed Richard Osthoff, a US navy veteran who alleges that Santos, 34, helped him to raise $US3000 ($4245) to save his pitbull, Sapphire, before making off with the money.

Santos already faces calls to resign and investigations over a string of lies he told on the campaign trail last year, when he was elected to represent New York’s third congressional district. He also faces allegations of fraud over irregularities in his financial disclosures and loans he made to his campaign as he ran for Congress.

Osthoff turned over to the FBI text messages dating back to 2016, when he claims Santos helped him to set up a GoFundMe campaign for Sapphire’s surgery.

Osthoff, who was homeless and living in a tent, told NBC News that Santos began “coming up with all these excuses” and finally refused to hand over the money. Sapphire died later.

“I’m elated the big guys finally picked it up,” Osthoff said of the FBI investigation.

“I turned over all my text messages and I’m in the process of turning over everything related to the GoFundMe campaign.”

Richard Osthoff and Sapphire, who later died

Santos dismissed Osthoff’s allegation as “shocking and insane” last month but is already under investigation over his claim to have founded Friends of Pets United, an animal rescue charity that he said had saved hundreds of cats and dogs. The Internal Revenue Service has found no record that the charity exists.

Santos has refused to resign from Congress despite admitting lying about attending a New York university where he claimed to be a college volleyball star and about working for two Wall Street banks named on his CV. The congressman claimed that his grandparents had fled the Holocaust but no record of them can be found and Santos admitted he is not Jewish, as previously claimed, but “Jew-ish”.

Santos has been exposed over his claim that his mother was killed in the 9/11 attacks; she died in 2016. The congressman appears to have gone by various aliases before running for Congress, including performing as a drag queen in Brazilian beauty pageants under the stage name of Kitara Ravache.

Investigators are also examining his campaign records after reports that some donors named in financial filings do not appear to exist. Santos is also yet to explain the origin of a $US700,000 loan he made to his own campaign last year.

Democrats, several Republicans and his own constituents have demanded that Santos step down.

“There’s no one that poses a greater threat in Congress than Santos,” the New York Democratic congressman Ritchie Torres told Politico.

“It’s undeniable that he’s broken the law. We have to protect Congress from George Santos, who threatens it from within.”

The Times