Rep.-elect George Santos (R-N.Y.) allegedly admitted to using a stolen checkbook in Brazil in 2008, CNN reported Wednesday.
According to a series of Brazilian police documents obtained by the outlet, Santos confessed to stealing a man's checkbook that was in his mother's possession. He then allegedly admitted to using the checkbook to purchase clothing at a shop outside Rio de Janeiro. In the police documents, officials reportedly said that Santos used a fake ID with the real checkbook owner's name and a picture of himself.
"[Santos] acknowledged having been responsible for forging the signatures on the checks, also confirming that he had destroyed the remaining checks," authorities wrote in one of the reports, per CNN. This document reporting the confession was allegedly signed by Santos himself in 2010.
Santos was eventually charged with fraud related to the use of the checkbook.
While Brazilian authorities have been unable to locate Santos in the years since the alleged crime, his election to Congress seems to have re-ignited their investigation. A spokesperson for the Rio de Janeiro prosecutor's office told CNN in a separate statement that they will make a formal request to the U.S. Justice Department to notify Santos of the charges.
The Brazilian development is just the latest in a laundry list of alleged falsehoods and lies undertaken by Santos during his campaign for Congress. He has admitted to fabricating multiple stints at college and employment at major Wall Street firms. He has additionally claimed, among other things, that his mother died during the Sept. 11 attacks and that his grandparents were Holocaust survivors, both of which have been shown to be false.