George Santos Had Shady Business Relationship With Russian Money Man
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Rep. George Santos (R-NY) long claimed a former Donald Trump associate—and cash handler for a notorious Russian oligarch—was just a businessman who donated to his campaign. But, as with most things involving Santos, things were not what they seemed.
Santos’ relationship with Andrew Intrater, a businessman who donated thousands of dollars to Santos’ campaign committee and those linked to him, now appears to have extended to his work with Harbor City Capital, an investment firm federal investigators labeled a Ponzi scheme. Far from jut a guy who donated to Santos' campaign, Intrater also had a substantial business relationship with Santos, according to a court filing obtained by The Washington Post, putting hundreds of thousands of dollars into Harbor City Capital.
Santos even boasted about their relationship in a 2020 meeting to discuss funding for a residential building in New York. At the time, Intrater ran the investment firm Columbus Nova, whose main client was Intrater’s cousin: sanctioned Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg, as The Daily Beast first reported.
“You might know who they are,” Santos said in a company meeting, according to audio obtained by The Washington Post. “They’ve made the news on several occasions. They were heavily involved with the Russia probe. Unjustified.”
There is not yet a direct financial or personal link between Santos and Vekselberg, who was sanctioned in 2018 for his ties to Vladimir Putin. Last year, the U.S. ordered the seizure of Vekselberg’s $90 million yacht in the wake of the war in Ukraine. But the closeness between Vekselberg and his cousin indicates Santos seemed to deem dealing with scrutinized figures as permissible.
NY Republican calls for DOJ, FEC to freeze Santos campaign fundsQuote:
Rep. Nick LaLota is calling on the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) to freeze fellow New York Republican Rep. George Santos’s campaign accounts amid escalating scrutiny of the new lawmaker’s false claims before and during his successful House bid last year.
“To the extent there is actually any real money in the campaign account of Congressman George Santos, the funds should be immediately frozen by the United States Department of Justice or Federal Election Commission,” reads LaLota’s statement, which he posted on Twitter on Sunday. “If those federal agencies need more authority to do so, I’ll take the lead.”
LaLota, along with six other House Republicans, has called on Santos to resign over his falsehoods. LaLota also called for the House Ethics Committee to launch an investigation into Santos last month.
“Congressman Santos fraudulently solicited these funds and Santos shouldn’t be allowed to drain his campaign account while multiple authorities investigate the very fraud that induced these contributions,” LaLota said in the statement.
“After Congressman Santos receives the proper Due Process — such as a House Ethics investigation or criminal proceedings or both — the funds should be returned to the contributors he duped,” he added. “The DOJ or FEC must act now to ensure there is something to actually return to the victims of Santos’ financial scam.”
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