The former roommate of Rep. George Santos (RN.Y.) accused Republicans Wednesday of being the ringleaders in a credit card fraud scheme in 2017.
The allegations, part of a sworn declaration by Gustavo Ribeiro Trelha sent to federal officials and first reported by Politico, name the lawmaker as “responsible for the crime” in Seattle that Trelha ultimately pleaded guilty to.
In his declaration, Trelha said he knew Santos as Anthony Devolder — the name Santos used before he was in Congress — and that they lived together in Florida. He said Santos taught him how to skim the card information and how to clone the card.
“They gave me all the materials and taught me how to put the skimming device and camera on the ATM machine,” Trelha said.
He said in his declaration that Santos has a warehouse in Orlando, Florida, where he stores “a lot of material,” including “parts, printers, empty ATMs and credit cards.”
Trelha was arrested after being caught on camera taking a skimming device from an ATM in Seattle, according to police. He said in his declaration that Santos stole the money collected for bail.
Trelha pleaded guilty to felony access device fraud and served three months in prison before being deported to Brazil in early 2018, Politico reported in February.
Santos was questioned about the ATM skimming case but was not named as a subject, according to a CBS News report last month. The case reportedly remains open.
The latest allegations come after the House Ethics Committee launched an investigation into Santos last week, an investigation that has included several other congressmen.
Santos slammed Politico’s report in a tweet on Thursday night.
“For everyone who asks, I will give you a simple answer. The latest madness published by the politico is completely false,” wrote Santos. “Any news organization that wants to do good Journalism, I’d be happy to sit down with you and sort it all out. Stay healthy and safe everyone.”