• George Santos, a former New York congressman, has been sentenced to over seven years in prison for wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.
• Santos falsely claimed to manage his family’s $80 million fortune through the Devolder Organization, which used various Brevard County addresses despite Santos having no apparent ties to the area.
• While campaigning, Santos worked for Harbor City Capital, a Melbourne-based firm later shut down by the SEC for operating as a Ponzi scheme.

Former New York congressman George Santos was sentenced on April 25 to more than seven years in prison, a year after Santos pleaded guilty to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft charges.

Before he was elected to Congress, Santos was listed as an employee at a Melbourne investment firm that the government called a “Ponzi scheme” and shut down.

The firm that supposedly oversaw Santos’ fictitious $80 million family fortune used various Brevard County addresses as its headquarters.

There is no evidence that Santos ever lived in Brevard County.

Here’s what we know:

Who is George Santos?

George Santos, a Republican, was elected in 2022 to represent New York’s 3rd Congressional District, which includes parts of the New York City borough of Queens and Long Island.

Federal investigators said Santos defrauded campaign donors, spending tens of thousands in political contributions funneled through the companies on personal expenses like credit card bills and “luxury designer clothing,” according to his federal indictment.

He was expelled from Congress in December 2023.

Only one of the companies was named in the federal filing: the Devolder Organization LLC., which Santos (whose middle name is Devolder) had previously described as a firm that managed his family assets.

What is Devolder Organization LCC?

The source of his wealth, according to the filing, was the “Devolder Organization,” which Santos described as a firm that managed his family’s assets, which he said totaled $80 million. Devolder was Santos’ mother’s maiden name and he sometimes goes by George Devolder Santos or just George Devolder.

The Devolder Organization was first incorporated in Florida in May 2021 with the now-empty Melbourne offices of a Ob/Gyn practice listed as its address.

Santos filed new paperwork with the state reviving the firm, one day after the New York Times called into question large parts of Santos’ resume noting that the Wall Street companies he said he worked for had no record of him. This time it listed a Merritt Island address as the company’s headquarters. That address was for a penthouse unit in the Harbor Del Rio condos.

The Devolder Organization LLC later changed its headquarters from a penthouse on Merritt Island to a mail-services store in Melbourne. 

Santos’ money

The financial disclosure report Santos filed in September 2022 claimed he had assets worth between $2.5 million and $10 million and had an income of $750,000. The only liability listed was a car loan from Westlake Financial, a company that specializes in sub-prime auto financing.

The source of his wealth, according to the filing, was the “Devolder Organization,” which Santos has described as a firm that managed his family’s assets, which he said totaled $80 million.

Ponzi scheme shutdown

For at least part of the time he was running for Congress, Santos was working for Harbor City Capital, a Melbourne-based “investment firm” that was shut down by the Securities and Exchange Commission as being nothing more than a Ponzi scheme. Federal regulators say the company defrauded investors of at least $4.5 million.

Santos had denied any knowledge of wrongdoing at the company.

Santos did not list any income from Harbor Capital on financial disclosure forms he filed as part of two congressional runs.

Read more about Santos’ connection to Brevard

FLORIDA TODAY looked into the connections Santos had with Brevard. Here is the first story published on Santos’ ties to the Space Coast, and here is a follow-up story.