CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. (CN) — Unsealing the names of the people who are backing bond for George Santos, a federal judge on Thursday revealed them to be the father and aunt of the indicted Republican representative.
Gercino dos Santos and Elma Santos Preven signed the $500,000 bond package on May 15, but portions of the court documents remain redacted, and it is unclear what money or property each relative put up as bond. The unsecured bond order means neither party had to surrender money or property.
Santos, who turns 35 next month, is accused of embezzling money from his supporters in the 2020 election, directing an unnamed political consultant to tell donors their dollars would go to television campaign ads and other efforts to get Santos elected. The money was instead used to buy designer clothing, pay off personal debts and withdraw cash, prosecutors say.
People running for Congress must disclose all assets, income and liabilities, but the 13-count indictment says Santos filed multiple false reports about his financial status, at times both overstating his income and failing to report money he made as regional director of a Florida-based investment firm.
Santos is also accused of stealing $24,000 in unemployment insurance benefits during the pandemic, claiming to be out of work from March 2020 through April 2021 when in fact he was earning a $120,000 salary.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Anne Shields initially agreed not to identify the sitting congressman’s bond backers. After the press clamored for access, however, Shields ordered those names unsealed in early June.
Santos appealed, insisting he was protecting family members by keeping the signatories secret and would sooner go to jail than subject his relatives to the kind of threats he has received. The argument did not find favor with Senior U.S. District Judge Joanna Seybert, who pointed out that Santos undermined his own case by essentially revealing to the House Ethics Committee that his suretors are family members.
“Similarly, it is disingenuous for [Santos] to maintain that the self-characterized media frenzy, or the purported vitriolic reactions which [Santos] encountered surrounding his indictment, risk inhibiting the suretors’ ability to fulfil [sic] their supervisory role,” the Clinton appointee wrote.
Santos claims a third suretor withdrew following the “media frenzy” surrounding his indictment, according to court documents. Seybert shot down that argument, noting the suretors who did co-sign the bond came to court five days after Santos’ highly publicized arraignment and plea of not guilty.
“It is spurious to contend that the suretors were unaware of the media reaction that had occurred earlier,” Seybert wrote. “At that time, [Santos] did nothing to diffuse the ‘media frenzy’ when leaving the courthouse, instead choosing to address the numerous reporters awaiting his departure.”
In that media address, Santos called the charges a “witch hunt” but said he will follow the legal process and defend himself in court.
"I have no desire not to comply at this point," Santos told a cluster of reporters. "I'm going to fight my battle, I'm going to deliver, I'm going to fight the witch hunt. I'm going to take care of clearing my name, and I look forward to doing that."
Santos’ father donated $7,850 to his son’s campaign between 2020 and 2022, according to the campaign finance tracking website Open Secrets. Dos Santos is listed as working in construction, as a painter, and as a retiree. His aunt, Preven, a mail handler for the U.S. Postal Service, put $5,150 toward Santos’ candidacies between 2020 and 2021.
Among the lies about his background and credentials to which Santos has admitted, he falsely claimed to have graduated from Baruch College in New York and lied about working at Citigroup and Goldman Sachs. He also misrepresented his ancestral and religious background, claiming to be both Jewish and Catholic, and stating that his mother was killed in the September 11, 2001, terror attacks when in fact she died in 2016.
Democrats and Republicans alike have called for Santos’ resignation. Though he stopped down from committee appointments, Santos has already announced plans for a 2024 election re-run.
Santos faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted of the top count of wire fraud.
The congressman's defense attorney Joe Murray did not return a request for comment.
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