Rep. George Santos is now firmly within the doghouse … the embattled U.S. Congressman allegedly scammed a disabled homeless navy veteran out of hundreds in donations meant to maintain his dying service pooch alive.
The freshman legislator from NY — who’s already copped to mendacity about his schooling and work expertise — crossed paths with Navy veteran Richard Osthoff in May 2016 and recognized himself by one among his aliases, Anthony Devolder … in accordance with native information web site, Patch.
Osthoff instructed Patch he and his beloved service canine, Sapphire, have been residing out of a tent on the aspect of a freeway in Howell, NJ. That could be attempting sufficient, however Sapphire additionally had a abdomen tumor that was getting bigger daily.
Osthoff wanted to provide you with $3,000 for his canine’s surgical procedure, so a veterinary tech put him in contact with Santos via a charity named “Friends of Pets United” … which was operated by “Anthony Devolder,” Santos’ alias. Ya, see the place that is going, proper?
Santos/Devolder allegedly began a GoFundMe to harness funds for Sapphire’s surgical procedure, and Osthoff says one month later, Santos posted on Facebook, “We made the purpose, after which some.”
This is the place it will get actually shady — in accordance with Osthoff, he and Santos mentioned taking Sapphire to a unique vet after a bleak prognosis from Santos’ animal physician.
Osthoff texted Santos, “My canine goes to die due to god is aware of what” — and Santos allegedly replied, “Sapphire shouldn’t be a candidate for this surgical procedure the funds are moved to the subsequent animal in want and we’ll ensure that we use of assets [sic] to maintain her snug!”
Osthoff says Sapphire by no means bought the surgical procedure, died in January 2017 … and so they by no means noticed a dime of the donation cash. Osthoff was so distraught, he contemplated suicide, declaring he “liked that canine a lot, I inhaled her final breaths after I had her euthanized.”
Now, Santos is denying the entire ordeal … saying he has no clue who Osthoff is or what he is speaking about. He instructed the Semafor information web site, “Fake. No clue who that is.”
WABC Radio
As we have reported, Santos’ monitor file already sucks … he was accused of fabricating a lot of his resume to assist him win the congressional seat repping components of Long Island and Queens.
There are rising calls, even from Republicans, for him to resign after he admitted mendacity about incomes levels from Baruch College and New York University, and making deceptive claims about working for Citigroup and Goldman Sachs.
