Nancy Marks, the former campaign treasurer for Rep. George Santos who pleaded guilty Thursday to one federal count of conspiracy to defraud the U.S., seemingly tried to take her old boss down with her as she testified.
Marks detailed to a judge how Santos, under her guidance, submitted bogus campaign finance reports to make it appear he had more donors than reality, the Associated Press reported.
In a news release, the Department of Justice said the funding lies weren’t just to deceive deep-pocketed donors, but were also to trick the National Republican Congressional Committee into believing Santos had reached a donation threshold that’d qualify his campaign for extra “financial and logistical” support.
ADVERTISEMENT
Testifying Thursday, Marks implicated Santos—explaining how they combined to falsely record in campaign finance reports that he’d loaned his campaign $500,000. In actuality, Marks said a loan was never taken out and Santos did not have the money or credit standing to borrow such an amount.
Marks also testified that she and Santos altered the donation amounts in federal reporting records for at least 10 of his family members to make it appear they donated significantly more than they had.
Santos’ office declined to comment on Marks’ claims to multiple media outlets.
“Marks engaged in criminal conduct intended to deceive and defraud the American public,” said James Smith, the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the FBI. “This guilty plea holds her responsible for those various fraudulent schemes and brazen misrepresentations.”
Marks’ guilty plea comes eight months after she resigned amid extensive allegations of brazen and seemingly endless financial irregularities by her truth-averse boss.
Marks entered the plea around 4 p.m. in the same Central Islip, New York federal courthouse where Santos in May pleaded not guilty to a 13-count indictment accusing him of wire fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds and making false statements to Congress. Prosecutors say they have so far amassed more than 80,000 pages of materials to use as evidence against Santos.
Her plea comes with a recommendation that she serve between three-and-a-half to four years in prison. That’s slightly below the maximum sentence of five years for the charge to which she pleaded guilty. A sentencing date was set for April 12, 2024. Marks is free on $100,000 bail in the meantime.
Raymond Perini, Marks’ attorney, did not respond to a request for comment on Thursday. In an email, Santos defense attorney Joe Murray, declined to comment to The Daily Beast on Marks’ plea deal.
Marks, 58, has long been a well-known figure in Long Island political circles, having been a key part of numerous past Republican campaigns. Santos’ campaign filings attracted intense scrutiny over such things as a raft of official expenditures listed at precisely $199.99, one cent below the threshold at which federal law requires candidates to keep receipts. In 2020, unsuccessful New York gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin also faced inquiries over a batch of similar $199.99 payments. His campaign treasurer at the time? None other than Nancy Marks.
Marks resigned from her position with Santos on Jan. 25, and the freshman representative immediately announced he had hired a replacement. However, the man he claimed to have brought on to fill Marks’ position told the press he never agreed to accept the job. Santos tried to lay all the blame for any financial shenanigans at Marks’ feet, insisting the veteran consultant had gone “rogue” behind his back.
Santos has managed to remain in Congress amid a barrage of allegations that began even before he took office.
Amr Alfiky/ReutersMarks is not a CPA, but “taught herself election law and used connections forged as a low-level Suffolk County employee and political volunteer to become a one-stop shop for candidates’ needs,” according to The New York Times. She has also worked for at least one candidate seen at the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, GOP also-ran Tina Forte.
In addition to keeping the books for conservative PACs such as God, Guns, Life and Veterans for MAGA, Marks, who operates out of her home in Shirley, New York, printed lawn signs for Santos and other right-wing pols. A Times review of official records showed Marks’ politically-focused ventures earned at least $3.3 million between 2009 and 2022.
Santos has managed to surround himself with a coterie of checkered ne’er-do-wells. As The Daily Beast first reported, Santos’ operations director Vish Burra faced discipline earlier this year for menacing a freelance journalist who had reported critically on his boss.
“This kind of behavior from anyone is unacceptable, much less from a congressional staffer,” Santos communications director Naysa Woomer told The Daily Beast at the time.
Woomer, an experienced legislative staffer, quit in May, shortly after Santos was indicted on federal fraud charges. On her way out, Woomer penned a scathing letter to the embattled congressman, saying that she was “honored” to be leaving the employ of a man who “never took one point of professional advice given.”
