Global Courant 2023-05-12 03:12:43
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — One day after New York Representative George Santos pleaded not guilty to charges in the US, he on Thursday signed an agreement with prosecutors in Brazil to avoid prosecution for forging two stolen checks in 2008.
“What would have been the beginning of a case ended today,” Santos’ lawyer in Brazil, Jonymar Vasconcelos, told The Associated Press in a text message. “As such, my client is no longer the subject of a case in Brazil.”
When asked about the details of the non-prosecution agreement, Vasconcelos objected, citing that the case was under seal. The Rio de Janeiro State Prosecutor’s Office also declined to comment when approached by the AP.
Court records in Brazil, first uncovered by The New York Times, show Santos faced criminal charges for using two stolen checks to purchase items from a store in the city of Niteroi, including a pair of sneakers he gifted to a friend . Santos would have been 19 at the time. The purchase totaled 2,144 Brazilian reais, then equivalent to about $1,350, according to the lawsuit filed by prosecutors in 2011.
That followed an investigation opened in 2008 and Santos’ signed confession, in which he admitted to stealing his mother’s former employer’s checkbook from her purse and making purchases, including in-store, and using the fraudulent checks. recognize it as the one he had signed. according to court documents reviewed by the AP.
A judge accepted the charges against Santos in 2011, but subsequent subpoenas for him to appear in person or present a written defense went unanswered, and with authorities repeatedly unable to determine his whereabouts, the case was stayed in 2013 . That changed after he won a U.S. congressional seat and the ensuing flurry of media attention focused on his dubious credentials. Rio prosecutors then filed a petition to reopen the case.
Under the terms of the non-prosecution agreement, Santos will pay 24,000 reais (almost $5,000), most of which will go to the retailer who received the bad checks and the rest to charities, the Folha de S.Paulo newspaper reported, without commenting. say how it obtained the information. Santos attended the meeting virtually, the newspaper reported.
Solving the case removes the possibility that Santos might have been required to travel to another country to resolve pending charges; that could have been complicated after he was forced to surrender his passport following recent charges in the US
Wednesday in New York, Santos pleaded not guilty on charges that he stole from his campaign and lied to Congress about being a millionaire while collecting unemployment benefits he didn’t deserve.
