Navy vet who claimed George Santos stole money for his dying dog says FBI has been in touch
Ali Condon
Featured Image Credit: richard osthoff/Facebook/Shutterstock
A Navy veteran has confirmed that the FBI is investigating his claims that Congressman George Santos stole thousands of dollars that was meant to go toward his dying service dog.
The Long Island Representative seems to find himself in hot water over and over, whether it's for lying about his mother surviving the 9/11 attack or fabricating his entire resume, but fresh allegations have now emerged.
Veteran Richard Osthoff alleges that in 2016, George Santos set up a GoFundMe for Osthoff's service dog, who needed surgery to remove a tumour.
Osthoff claims that as soon as the fundraiser reached its goal of $3,000, Santos deleted the entire page and made off with the funds.
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Osthoff says Santos had offered to help him through his charity Friends of Pets United.
But according to a New York Times report, neither the attorney general offices in New York and New Jersey nor the IRS found any record of a charity under that name.
According to the veteran, who was homeless at the time, George Santos suddenly became impossible to reach, leaving him without the funds to treat his dog, Sapphire, who ultimately passed away.
Sharing his story with ABC News, Osthoff said: "I don't ever want to see another person, especially another veteran, go through this again."
Referring to FBI involvement, he added that he was 'glad to get the ball rolling with the big-wigs.'
He continued: "I was worried that what happened to me was too long ago to be prosecuted."
Jalen Drummond, the director of public affairs at GoFundMe, backed Richard's story to CBS.
"When we received a report of an issue with this fundraiser in late 2016, our trust and safety team sought proof of the delivery of funds from the organise," he stated.
"The organiser failed to respond, which led to the fundraiser being removed and the email associated with that account prohibited from further use on our platform.
"GoFundMe has a zero-tolerance policy for misuse of our platform and cooperates with law enforcement investigations of those accused of wrongdoing."
Santos has denied the claims.
"The reports that I would let a dog die is shocking & insane. My work in animal advocacy was the labor of love & hard work," Santos tweeted.
"Over the past 24hr I have received pictures of dogs I helped rescue throughout the years along with supportive messages. These distractions won't stop me!"
Innocent or guilty in this instance, Santos doesn't have the best track record with truth-telling at the moment.
Back in December, Santos admitted that he had lied to voters about key parts of his background, including his education level, work resume, religion, and major life events.
The Republican Congressman announced this week that he will be stepping away from serving on committees in the House of Representatives to prevent from being a further 'distraction.'