Republican Representative George Santos, the son of Brazilians elected in the US, reportedly convinced at least one person to make a six-figure investment in a Florida-based company that the US Securities and Exchange Commission said was a financial pyramid scheme, reported this Saturday (14) the newspaper The Wall Street Journal.
Santos, who has been facing pressure from Republicans and Democrats to resign from Congress, was reportedly hired in 2020 to raise funds for the company Harbor City Capital. According to informants and documents that the newspaper had access to, he would have obtained at least a significant sum from a wealthy investor.
However, when the investment did not bring the promised return, Santos would have tried to reassure the investor by saying that he had personally raised almost US$ 100 million and invested his own family’s money in the company.
Newly elected to Congress, Santos is in an imbroglio involving the finances of his campaign for the Chamber and lies he told about his educational background and companies he worked for, in addition to having invented stories about his heritage and origin.
He lied, for example, about having worked at Goldman Sachs and Citibank, but claimed to have worked in finance for a few years, including a 2017 job at a firm that organized conferences for money managers and private equity investors.
Santos’ resume includes a stint at Harbor City Capital, a company declared bankrupt after being accused by the Securities and Exchange Commission of being a financial pyramid scheme, in a civil lawsuit filed in 2021.
Harbor City said in a 2020 press release that Santos served as regional director for the firm’s New York City office and represented the firm to high net worth clientele.
The Securities and Exchange Commission did not comment on Santos’ role at the company. A spokesperson for the congressman also did not respond to The Wall Street Journal. Santos has previously denied wrongdoing and said he was not named as a defendant in the lawsuit against Harbor City.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Santos did not disclose any income from Harbor City on the forms candidates are required to fill out when running for government office. His job at the company, according to insiders familiar with the matter, was to attract investors.
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