“Santos taught me how to skim card information and how to clone cards,” Gustavo Ribeiro Trelha, who was convicted of felony access device fraud, said Wednesday in a sworn declaration submitted to the FBI.
NEW YORK – Rep. George Santos orchestrated a 2017 credit card skimming operation in Seattle, the man who was convicted of the fraud and deported to Brazil said in a sworn declaration submitted to federal authorities Wednesday.
“I am coming forward today to declare that the person in charge of the crime of credit card fraud when I was arrested was George Santos / Anthony Devolder,” Gustavo Ribeiro Trelha wrote in the declaration. It was sent by express mail and email to the FBI, the U.S. Secret Service New York office and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of New York, according to a copy of the receipt from the United States Postal Service.
Telha decided to contact law enforcement officials after seeing the newly minted congressman on television, he said in the declaration.
Santos, whose full name is George Anthony Devolder Santos, often went by Anthony Devolder before his first congressional bid in 2020. The New York Republican won a Long Island swing district last November after lying on the campaign trail about his education, work experience and supposed Jewish ancestry. The House ethics panel initiated an investigation into Santos last week to explore possible “unlawful activity” related to his run. State, federal and Brazilian authorities are also probing Santos related to a string of potential financial crimes. Santos has admitted to “embellishing” parts of his background, but said he never broke any laws.
He was previously questioned about the Seattle scheme by investigators for the U.S. Secret Service, CBS News has reported. He was never charged, but the investigation remains open. Santos also told an attorney friend he was “an informant” in the fraud case. Trelha insists he was its mastermind.
“Santos taught me how to skim card information and how to clone cards. He gave me all the materials and taught me how to put skimming devices and cameras on ATM machines,” Trelha said in the declaration that was submitted to authorities by his New York attorney, Mark Demetropoulos. POLITICO obtained a copy of the declaration.
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Rep. George Santos orchestrated a 2017 credit card skimming operation in Seattle, a former roommate of the scandal-plagued congressman said in a sworn declaration submitted to federal authorities Wednesday.https://t.co/FmzKdWgFwk
— POLITICO (@politico) March 9, 2023
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