A former fundraiser for U.S. Rep. George Santos has been indicted on federal charges that he impersonated a high-ranking congressional aide while soliciting contributions for the New York Republican’s campaign.
Sam Miele was charged with four counts of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft in an alleged scheme to defraud donors and obtain money for Santos under false pretenses.
Prosecutors said Miele impersonated a high-ranking aide to a House member with leadership responsibilities, using a fake name and email address to trick at least a dozen prospective donors.
The indictment did not name the person who was impersonated by name, but the details of the charges match with multiple news reports identifying the aide as Dan Meyer, now retired as the longtime chief of staff to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., who at the time was minority leader.
Miele pleaded not guilty to the charges in Brooklyn federal court and was released on a $150,000 bond.
The indictment come three months after Santos was arrested on charges of wire fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds and making false statements to Congress.
The case against Santos involves separate allegations that he embezzled money from his campaign for personal use, lied to Congress about his finances and cheated his way into undeserved unemployment checks.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Sam Miele was charged with four counts of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft in an alleged scheme to defraud donors and obtain money for Santos under false pretenses.
Prosecutors said Miele impersonated a high-ranking aide to a House member with leadership responsibilities, using a fake name and email address to trick at least a dozen prospective donors.
The indictment did not name the person who was impersonated by name, but the details of the charges match with multiple news reports identifying the aide as Dan Meyer, now retired as the longtime chief of staff to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., who at the time was minority leader.
Miele pleaded not guilty to the charges in Brooklyn federal court and was released on a $150,000 bond.
The indictment come three months after Santos was arrested on charges of wire fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds and making false statements to Congress.
The case against Santos involves separate allegations that he embezzled money from his campaign for personal use, lied to Congress about his finances and cheated his way into undeserved unemployment checks.
I’m a bot and I’m open source!