George Santos' former fundraiser indicted on impersonation, fraud charges

An ex-fundraiser for embattled Rep. George Santos has been indicted in federal court in Brooklyn on charges alleging he impersonated a “high-level Congressional staffer” to solicit donations on behalf of Santos and enrich himself through commissions he earned, court records show.

Samuel Miele, who is charged with four counts of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft in connection with the alleged scheme, had previously been the subject of a House ethics complaint alleging he posed as the chief of staff for then-Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to solicit donations on behalf of Santos, according to a copy of the ethics complaint filed in February by liberal political action committee End Citizens United.

Miele, 27, of Green Village, New Jersey, pleaded not guilty at an arraignment Wednesday before Magistrate Judge Sanket Bulsara, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. He was released on a $150,000 bond.

His attorney, Kevin Marino of Chatham, New Jersey, said his client denies the charges.

“Mr. Miele is not guilty of these charges,” Marino said in an email to Newsday. “He looks forward to complete vindication at trial as soon as possible.”

The indictment unsealed Wednesday identifies four emails Miele allegedly sent to four separate Santos campaign contributors between Aug. 19 and Oct. 22, 2021.

Miele earned a 15% commission on the donations raised, according to the indictment.

In total, the indictment states Miele contacted more than a dozen potential contributors using the fake identity, with funds he received from the four individuals being sent through an intermediary service to the Santos campaign bank account in Suffolk County.

On Sept. 26, 2021, Miele allegedly sent Santos an email admitting to "faking my identity to a big donor,” according to the indictment.

“High risk, high reward in everything I do,” Miele allegedly wrote in the email, according to court papers.

The indictment does not name the congressional staffer impersonated in the emails but does state that he did not give Miele or the Santos campaign permission to use his identity for fundraising purposes.

McCarthy's press staff did not respond to a Newsday query about the indictment.

The New York Times previously reported that Miele was fired by the Santos campaign after the scheme was exposed. The Times report stated that Miele was paid $43,000 from the Santos campaign and an additional $10,000 from a political action committee.

Court records show the case is being prosecuted by the same team overseeing the case against Santos, who was indicted in May on federal charges alleging he orchestrated a series of schemes while running for Congress, including ripping off political donors, fraudulently receiving unemployment benefits authorized under COVID-19 even though he had a job, and lying on his congressional financial disclosure forms. 

Santos, reached by phone shortly after the indictment was posted, told Newsday he had no comment because he and his attorney had not yet seen the indictment documents.

Santos said he had not spoken to Miele "in months, almost a year."

Santos, a Republican who represents New York's 3rd Congressional District, which includes parts of Nassau and Queens, has denied his own charges, which include seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of theft of public funds and two counts of making materially false statements to the House of Representatives as part of schemes prosecutors said began in 2020.

Santos, who took office in January, faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison on the top counts if convicted and the potential forfeiture of his assets. 

Prosecutors described the Miele and Santos cases as “distinct” but arising “out of overlapping events,” in a letter to the court. The letter notes that both alleged schemes are related to Santos’ 2022 campaign and might be considered by the court to be related cases.

Miele is due back in court Aug. 22.

With Laura Figueroa Hernandez and Tom Brune