Federal officials say that Sam Miele used a fake name and email address to trick at least a dozen people who wanted to donate money to his campaign.
The press has learned that a man who used to raise money for Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., is being charged with wire fraud and identity theft for reportedly pretending to be a high-ranking congressional aide.
Federal officials in Brooklyn say that Miele pretended to be Kevin McCarthy’s former Chief of Staff when he asked for money for Santos’ campaign.
Prosecutors said Miele tricked at least a dozen potential donors using a fake name and email address. In this case, Santos was not charged. The charge did not specifically mention the fake person by name.
Miele was charged with the crimes but pleaded not guilty in federal court in Brooklyn. He was then given a $150,000 bond and let go.
Kevin Marino, who is Miele’s lawyer, said that his client “is not guilty of these charges.”
“He hopes that the trial will clear his name as soon as possible,” Marino said.
His office sent all inquiries about Santos to his campaign.
Federal investigators said that Miele admitted to “faking my identity to a big donor” in a letter sent to Santos on September 26, 2016, a few months before Santos was elected. The accusation says that Miele said, “Everything I do is high risk and high reward.”
Prosecutors say that Miele got a 15% cut of every donation he brought.
Three months ago, Santos was arrested for wire fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds, and lying to Congress. Now, three months later, he has been charged with more crimes. He has said he is innocent and has no plans to leave Congress.
In the case against Santos, there are three different claims: that he stole money from his campaign and used it for himself, lied to Congress about his finances, and talked his way into jobless checks he didn’t earn.
Santos made up large parts of his life story during his campaign for office. He told people he was a wealthy Wall Street dealmaker when he was fighting to pay his rent and had worked for a company that was accused of running a Ponzi scam.
