George Santos, a gay New York congressman who went viral in January when photos of himself in drag leaked online, was indicted by federal prosecutors on Tuesday, May 9. Rep. Santos surrendered himself to police custody on Wednesday. 

Rep. Santos has been charged with a total of 13 criminal counts, including seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of theft of public funds and two counts of making materially false statements to the House of Representatives. 

The arrest has been described as a “dramatic comeuppance,” in reference to the Republican representative’s proclivity for stretching the truth. Rep. Santos himself admitted to being a “terrible liar” during an interview with Piers Morgan on TalkTV. 

Unverified statements that Rep. Santos has issued include describing himself as a self-made real estate financier, having had an illustrious collegiate volleyball career followed by a double knee replacement, and having been diagnosed with a brain tumour. Rep. Santos has also been called out on unverified claims about his Jewish ancestry, having walked as a model in New York Fashion Week, and about his mother being a 9/11 survivor. 

Several of these claims have been proven to be false since their issuance. 

Most famously, Rep. Santos denied being a drag queen in Brazil after photos of him in drag surfaced online, calling the accusations “categorically false”. These claims, however, were tempered when two of Rep. Santos’ former acquaintances came forward in opposition. 

Eula Rochard (58) and another anonymous Brazilian drag performer told Reuters that Rep. Santos used to compete in Brazilian drag pageants under the name Kitara Ravache. Rochard reported that she became friends with the future congressman in 2005, while another anonymous informant reported that Santos shared aspirations of winning Miss Gay Rio de Janeiro around the same time. 

The federal investigation into the congressman’s actions as a public figure was launched as a result of his unsubstantiated (and hotly debated) claims. 

Prosecutors have accused Rep. Santos of embezzling campaign contributions and spending the money on designer clothes and handouts to his associates. Additionally, the unsealed indictment declared that he received $24,000 worth of unemployment during the Covid-19 pandemic despite the fact that he was not unemployed, but instead raking in a salary of $120,000 a year. Additional charges facing Rep. Santos include falsifying federal disclosure forms and misleading Congress regarding his finances. 

The congressman appeared before a New York judge on Wednesday, where he pleaded not guilty to all charges before being released on a $500,000 bond. The congressman is scheduled to reappear in court for a hearing on June 30. The hearing will be overseen by US District Court Judge Joanna Seybert. 

“This indictment seeks to hold Santos accountable for various alleged fraudulent schemes and brazen misrepresentations,” said US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Breon Peace, when the charges were announced. “The allegations in the indictment charge Santos with relying on repeated dishonesty and deception to ascend to the halls of Congress and enrich himself.” 

If convicted on the top charges against him, Rep. Santos faces a maximum of 20 years in prison. 

According to his former aide, Derek Myers, the Justice Department’s charges are “just the start” of an “avalanche” of problems for the congressman.