Nancy Marks, Rep George Santos’s (R-NY) former treasurer, has been charged with one or more felony offences and is set to plead guilty, prosecutors have said.
Ms Marks is the accountant who was in charge of the finances for the Santos campaigns.
Court documents and an official at the Eastern District of New York have both confirmed the charging of Ms Marks, according to The New York Times.
She has overseen the finances of some of the top Republicans in the state and has previously faced allegations of crossing the line of the law but she has not previously been charged.
The court official said Ms Marks is set to appear in federal court on Thursday in Central Islip on Long Island to enter a plea, The Times notes.
It’s not clear if or how the case against Ms Marks will affect Mr Santos. The scandal-ridden congressman pleaded not guilty in May after he was charged with 13 counts of wire fraud, theft of public funds, money laundering, and lying on federal disclosure forms.
One of the allegations against Mr Santos in his indictment is that he illegally took political donations from an unregistered nonprofit for himself to the tune of $50,000.
Another member of his campaign staff was indicted in August for another fund-raising scheme.
Mr Santos has rejected the notion that he was involved in the finances of his campaign, claiming that Ms Marks was behind all of the filings made. Placing the blame on her for any inaccuracies, he told a rightwing outlet this year that a “former fiduciary went rogue”.
Ms Marks was by Mr Santos’s side from the start of his failed 2020 campaign until his election win last year. She earned almost $240,000.
While she has agreed to plead guilty, there’s nothing to suggest that she’ll work with prosecutors, according to the paper.
Ms Marks has been active in Suffolk County Republican politics for quite some time, and she has strong links to the Long Island Republicans. She oversaw the finances for former State Senator John Flanagan and former Congressman Lee Zeldin. Mr Zeldin lost a close race for governor last year.
Ms Marks has been the focus of federal prosecutors on several previous occasions, The Times reported previously this year. Prosecutors have investigated allegations that she aided in the selling of a ballot line and claims that she embezzled funds from a client, but she wasn’t charged in either case.
The 58-year-old departed from the Santos campaign in January not long after it was revealed that he had fabricated large parts of his background.
Ms Marks sent in filings to change the Santos campaign finance reports more than 30 times. Expenses were added and removed with no reason given why.
A large number of expenses appeared for $199.99 – just under the bar for when receipts are needed. A number of these expenses were made out to “anonymous”. In later changes, these expenses were removed. In total, more than $365,000 in campaign expenses remain unexplained. Watchdogs have filed complaints to the Federal Election Commission.
Mr Santos is set to appear in court on 27 October. Her Thursday afternoon appearance in court will be Ms Marks’s first, the Associated Press noted.
The Independent has reached out to the campaign and congressional office of Mr Santos for comment.
