Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., denied accusations made by a Brazilian man convicted of fraud, saying he was not the mastermind behind a credit card skimming scam in 2017.
"I'm innocent. I never did anything of criminal activity, and I'm no mastermind of anything," Santos told reporters, per NBC News.
Politico reported the allegations against the congressman, based on a sworn affidavit from Gustavo Ribeiro Trelha, who claimed Santos oversaw an ATM skimming scheme.
Santos took to Twitter on Thursday to denounce the accusations, tweeting, "With everyone asking I'll give a simple answer. The newest insanity published by politico is categorically false. Any news organization willing to do good Journalism I'll entertain sitting down with you and go over it all."
Trelha, who in 2017 pleaded guilty in federal court to access device fraud, served six months in prison before being deported to Brazil.
In the affidavit dated March 7 and sent to the Secret Service, the FBI, and the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Eastern District of New York, Trelha named Santos as the man that taught him how to clone credit cards and hack ATMs by way of skimming devices.
"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," Trelha wrote in his statement. The congressman's full name is George Anthony Devolder Santos.
The Secret Service confirmed to NBC it received Trelha's sworn statement, but refused to comment further.
In audio recordings obtained by Politico, Santos told the judge at Trelha's 2017 bail hearing that he was a "family friend" who worked for Goldman Sachs. According to The New York Times, Santos and Trelha shared an apartment in Winter Park, Florida, prior to Trelha's bail hearing.
Last week, the House Ethics Committee officially launched an investigation into the congressman. Since his inauguration into Congress in January, Santos has faced pressure from his Republican colleagues to step down.
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