George Santos has been caught lying again after claiming his five-year-old niece was kidnapped from a New York City playground by Chinese Communists.

A senior NYPD source said they found no evidence for any abduction attempt and added: ‘I’d lean into, ‘he made it up.”

The New York congressman, who has been charged with 23 criminal counts of fraud, told a New York Times journalist he had received death threats after his lies were exposed.

He insists he is the victim of a ‘witch hunt’ and will be exonerated. Santos, in an early September call to the journalist, said that his niece had been targeted.

The child’s mother is believed to be Santos’ younger sister, Tiffany Santos, who lives in New York and has been supportive of her brother’s political career.

Santos said the little girl was found after surveillance camera footage located her with two Chinese men, and said the police were called.

George Santos has now claimed his five-year-old niece was kidnapped from a playground in Queens, New York City, and taken away by two Chinese men. A senior NYPD source said they investigated, but found no evidence for any kidnapping

George Santos has now claimed his five-year-old niece was kidnapped from a playground in Queens, New York City, and taken away by two Chinese men. A senior NYPD source said they investigated, but found no evidence for any kidnapping

George Santos has now claimed his five-year-old niece was kidnapped from a playground in Queens, New York City, and taken away by two Chinese men. A senior NYPD source said they investigated, but found no evidence for any kidnapping

Santos's sister, Tiffany, is believed to be the mother of the five-year-old

Santos's sister, Tiffany, is believed to be the mother of the five-year-old

Santos’s sister, Tiffany, is believed to be the mother of the five-year-old

Santos has been vocal in his calls for a hard line on China, and co-sponsored a bill forcing higher education institutions to disclose ties to groups affiliated with China.

He has also strongly supported Miles Guo, a Chinese dissident businessman and ally of Steve Bannon, who has been arrested in the US on fraud charges.

Santos hinted that he believed the ‘kidnapping’ of his niece was related to his harsh line against the Chinese Communist Party.

Asked whether he thought it was China, Santos replied: ‘Look, I don’t want to go into like, conspiracy theory. But you know, if the shoe fits, right?’

Yet a high-ranking member of the NYPD said they had looked into the incident, and found no evidence of any kidnapping.

‘We found nothing at all to suggest it’s true,’ the official told The New York Times.

‘I’d lean into, ‘he made it up.”

Santos has insisted that he is the victim of a 'witch hunt' and will fight to clear his name

Santos has insisted that he is the victim of a 'witch hunt' and will fight to clear his name

Santos has insisted that he is the victim of a ‘witch hunt’ and will fight to clear his name

Santos’ personal and professional biography as a wealthy businessman began to unravel soon after winning election to represent Long Island and Queens last year, revealing a tangled web of deception.

In addition to lying to voters — about his distinguished Wall Street background, Jewish heritage, academic and athletic achievements, animal rescue work, real estate holdings and more — Santos is accused of carrying out numerous fraud schemes meant to enrich himself and mislead his donors.

Santos’ sister has also been in the headlines, for failing to pay her rent – while still making campaign donations to her brother’s election effort.

In February this year she settled her longstanding eviction case in Queens County Civil Court, agreeing that she had failed to pay more than $40,000 in rent on an Elmhurst apartment, according to court documents. 

She entered into an agreement to pay back $19,525 of that by making $1,000 monthly payments from March through October 31, 2024.

A landlord told Insider in June that she was still not paying. 

Earlier this month, additional charges were added to George Santos’ May indictment, with accusations of stealing the identity of his donors and using their credit cards to spend tens of thousands of dollars.

Prosecutors said some of that stolen money ended up in his own bank account.

In early October, his former campaign treasurer agreed to plead guilty to fraud

The new charges include allegations that he charged more than $44,000 to his campaign over a period of months using cards belonging to contributors without their knowledge. 

In one case, the 35-year-old charged $12,000 to a contributor’s credit card and transferred the ‘vast majority’ of that money into his personal bank account, prosecutors said.

George Santos, seen on September 29, now faces 23 federal charges: 10 more were added on October 10

George Santos, seen on September 29, now faces 23 federal charges: 10 more were added on October 10

George Santos, seen on September 29, now faces 23 federal charges: 10 more were added on October 10

Santos , a Republican representing New York, is refusing to resign and insists he is the victim of a 'witch hunt'

Santos , a Republican representing New York, is refusing to resign and insists he is the victim of a 'witch hunt'

Santos , a Republican representing New York, is refusing to resign and insists he is the victim of a ‘witch hunt’

Santos is also accused of falsely reporting to the Federal Elections Commission that he had loaned $500,000 to his campaign in an attempt to convince Republican Party officials that he was a serious candidate, when he actually had less than $8,000 in his personal accounts.

‘As alleged, Santos is charged with stealing people’s identities and making charges on his own donors’ credit cards without their authorization, lying to the FEC and, by extension, the public about the financial state of his campaign,’ said Breon Peace, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern district of New York.

Santos has not commented.

He has previously maintained his innocence, insisting he is the victim of a ‘witch hunt.’

The new charges deepen the legal peril for Santos, who likely faces a lengthy prison term if convicted. 

So far, he has resisted all calls to resign, insisting he intends to run for reelection next year.

He was initially arrested in May on a 13-count federal indictment, which charged him with using funds earmarked for campaign expenses on designer clothes and other personal expenses and improperly obtaining unemployment benefits meant for Americans who lost work because of the pandemic.

Free on bail while awaiting trial, Santos has described his litany of lies as victimless embellishments, while blaming some of his financial irregularities on his former treasurer, Nancy Marks, who he claims ‘went rogue.’

Nancy Marks served as treasurer for George Santos' campaign

Nancy Marks served as treasurer for George Santos' campaign

Nancy Marks served as treasurer for George Santos’ campaign

Breon Peace, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern district of New York, is leading the prosecution of Santos

Breon Peace, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern district of New York, is leading the prosecution of Santos

Breon Peace, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern district of New York, is leading the prosecution of Santos

Last week, Marks, a longtime Long Island political bookkeeper and close aide to Santos, pleaded guilty to a fraud conspiracy charge, telling a judge that she helped her former boss hoodwink prospective donors and Republican party officials by submitting bogus campaign finance reports.

Tuesday’s indictment said Marks and Santos were involved in the same scheme to fake a $500,000 campaign loan in order to meet a benchmark that would unlock additional support from a Republican Party committee. 

Santos has now also been charged with recording fake donations from at least 10 people, all his or Marks’ relatives, as part of the same effort to make the campaign look like it hit those fundraising goals.

Santos was not initially charged in the criminal complaint against Marks, but was identified in court papers as a ‘co-conspirator.’

The new indictment alleges a multi-part fraud by Santos, who allegedly duped both his donors and his family members.

In one instance, Santos allegedly swiped the credit card information of one of his contributors, who had already donated $5,800 to the campaign, to give himself an additional $15,800 in payments, the indictment said. 

Because the unauthorized charges exceeded contribution limits under federal law, Santos listed the additional payments as coming from his own unwitting relatives, prosecutors allege.

Financial questions have continued to swirl around Santos, who claimed to be rich but spent much of his adulthood bouncing between low-paying jobs and unemployment, while fending off eviction cases and two separate criminal charges relating to his use of bad checks.

A separate fundraiser for Santos, Sam Miele, was also previously indicted on federal charges that he impersonated a high-ranking congressional aide while soliciting contributions for the Republican’s campaign.

Prosecutors said Miele, 27, impersonated the former chief of staff to Kevin McCarthy, who at the time was the House minority leader, by setting up dummy email addresses that resembled the staffer’s name.

Miele’s attorney, Kevin Marino, previously predicted his client would be exonerated at trial.

Santos was scheduled to return to court on the original indictment on Oct. 27. 

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