Rep. George Santos' former ponzi scheme revealed by classmate

The CEO of Santos company was charged with stealing at least $6.5 million in the scheme.

 US REPRESENTATIVE-Elect George Santos appears in an undated still image from a political campaign video. (photo credit: George Santos campaign/Reuters)
US REPRESENTATIVE-Elect George Santos appears in an undated still image from a political campaign video.
(photo credit: George Santos campaign/Reuters)

A former classmate of Representative George Santos has revealed a ponzi scheme that Santos was allegedly involved in.

Tiffany Bogosian, an attorney who claims to have attended school with Santos, described the scheme.

At the time, Santos was working as a regional director for Harbor City Capital Corporation .

She said Santos asked one of Bogosian’s client for a six figure investment, but told the client they could not be allowed to know the details of the investment.

"He asked for a $300,000 principal investment, and he essentially said the client was not allowed to know what it was being invested in at all," she recalled to CBS Reports in the documentary Campaign of Deceit

 US Representative George Santos (R-NY) walks to a vote on Capitol Hill in Washington, US, January 12, 2023. (credit: REUTERS/ELIZABETH FRANTZ)
US Representative George Santos (R-NY) walks to a vote on Capitol Hill in Washington, US, January 12, 2023. (credit: REUTERS/ELIZABETH FRANTZ)

Since the interview, Bogosian has claimed that she and the client in question were interviewed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC.) 

SEC has now closed the company that Santos was working for at the time for "ongoing, fraudulent Ponzi schemes victimizing hundreds of investors across the United States."

According to SEC, the CEO of Harbor City Capital Corporation was charged with using "at least $6.5 million of investor funds to make monthly interest payments and other payouts to investors in a classic Ponzi scheme fashion."

Bogosian claimed that Santos had always had a penchant for tall tales. She added “he started these lies, and I think it just continued” in her interview with CBS.

"It worked for him then and I think it worked for him for a long time. I mean, it got him into Congress,"

Santos claims

Santos has since claimed he had no awareness of any wrongdoing at the firm.

This is not the first financial crime that Santos has been accused of. He has also been investigated for stealing $3000 that was fund raised for a homeless navy veteran's sick dog.

Throughout the proceess of his campaign, Santos made multiple claims that were later revealed to be false. He claimed to be of Jewish heritage, which was later proven untrue. He has also claimed that his mother was working at the World Trade Center during the 9/11 attack, which was also not the truth. 

Santos has admitted to “embellishing” parts of his resume. This has included college records, employment records at both Citigroup and Goldman Sachs, and having worked as a producer on Spider Man the Broadway musical.

Santos has also been accused of sexual harassment, his accuser was fired from their position two days after the claim.

Adding to Santos' controversy, screenshots came to light which display Santos making offensive comments about Black people and Jews on Facebook. Santos' lawyer has claimed that the screenshots were faked.

Santos has also denied being a drag queen in Brazil in 2005.