The North Shore Leader Calls Congressman-elect Santos “A Petty Criminal from Brazil”
By Dan Murphy
Two months before George Santos “shocked the world” and was elected to Congress from NY, a small Long Island newspaper wrote a story calling him a fraud. The story was written by Maureen Day, Editor of The North Shore Leader, a community newspaper on Long Island.
Titled, Santos Filings Now Claim Net Worth of $11 Million, Day writes that based on his required Personal Financial Disclosure Reports to the Clerk of the House of Representatives, from 2020-2022, Santos, “is claiming an inexplicable rise in his alleged net worth to $11 million.. Two years ago, in 2020, Santos’ personal financial disclosures claimed that he had no assets over $5,000 – no bank accounts, no stock accounts, no real property. A net worth barely above “zero”. And his income was only just over $50,000 for the prior year, derived from a venture fund called “Harbor Hill Capital,” that was closed and seized in 2020 by US federal prosecutors as a “Ponzi Scheme.” Santos was the New York Director of that “fund.”
“Now, in a filing dated September 6th, 2022, Santos claims his assets are now as much as $11 million, including personal bank accounts of between $1 million and $5 million; a Condo in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, of between $500,000 and $1 million; and business interests of between $1 million and $5 million… …Interestingly, Santos shows no US real property in his financial disclosure, although he has repeatedly claimed to own “a mansion in Oyster Bay Cove” on Tiffany Road; and “a mansion in the Hamptons” on Dune Road,” writes Day.
Simply put, The North Shore Leader, had the goods on Santos 50 days before he was elected. And No Major Media Outlet, nor his democratic opponents, picked up on this story. NY Democrats we spoke to dispute this, claiming that they had the same information that was printed in The North Shore Leader, but that none of the major NYC Media picked it up.
Day and the North Shore Leader continue in their Sept. story that the Hampton’s House citied was not owned by Santos, and that Santos and his husband live in a rented apartment in Queens. And that the $600,000 loan that Santos allegedly made to his campaign “does not show up in his newly filed 2022 personal financial disclosure.”
In a recent follow up by Niall Fitzgerald, The North Shore Leader gloats The Leader Told You So: US Rep-Elect George Santos is a Fraud – and Wanted Criminal. “Santos is a really just a petty criminal from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He is currently wanted in Brazil on criminal charges of committing elder fraud and check forgery. He stole checkbooks from the elderly patients of his late mother – who was a home healthcare nurse – and forged the checks to steal merchandise, according to prosecutors in Brazil.”
And “According to the NYC Courts, Santos was evicted twice in the past five years from rented apartments in Queens – for non-payment of rent.”
As the editor of two small weekly newspapers in Westchester, I am proud of the journalistic excellence from The North Shore Leader. And let this be a lesson to the larger media outlets. Expand your reading list to inlcude the smaller, local media. Sometimes we have a story that everyone should be aware of.
Westchester County Executive George Latimer, a democrat, said that Santos “must resign, enough.”
“When prominent Democrats ran afoul of scandal – Comptroller, Governor, Speaker, Attorney General, Lt. Governor – other Democrats came out publicly and called for resignation. Within one’s party, this is not easy… but everyone who defends the indefensible now owns the offense as well.
“I am encouraged that some Nassau Republicans are speaking out against George Santos – and not at all surprised that Marjorie Taylor Greene spoke in his defense.
“Santos has lied not about one or two things in his resume, but literally everything: his jobs, his schooling, his ethnicity, his parents. He won under false pretenses and the people that wanted a conservative voice in Congress and so chose him, will get another chance in a special election to pick someone they agree with in ideology but is not a flat-out liar.
“Those of us in political life are constantly bombarded by opponents with accusations that corrode public faith… “all is fair” in trying to gain power. When a George Devolder-Santos comes along, he gives every critic the platform to say “they’re all alike – all liars”. Santos must resign. Enough,” writes Latimer.
Westchester Congressman elect Mike Lawler, a republican, issued a statement on Twitter that reads, “George Santos owes the people of his district the complete and total truth about his personal and professional background, and a sincere apology for his behavior. Attempts to blame others or minimize his actions are only making things worse and a complete distraction from the task at hand,”
“With multiple federal, state, and local investigations seemingly underway, Mr. Santos should cooperate fully if he is to regain the trust of his constituents and colleagues,” stated Lawler.
Republicans hold an ultra slim, 5 seat majority in the upcoming House of Representatives. Most believe that Santos will not resign unless he is in indicted.
