George Santos said firm of sanctioned Russian oligarch's cousin was his 'client': Report

New York Rep. George Santos appears to have had considerable business and political ties to the U.S.-based cousin of a Russian oligarch, a new report suggests on Monday.

Representing parts of Queens and Long Island, the newly installed member of Congress has admitted to fabricating a wide range of details in his backstory including his education, career and family heritage. 

His allegedly shady business dealings have also come under scrutiny, after discrepancies between his wealth on paper and evidence of financial struggles inspired questions over where Santos got the $700,000 he poured into his own 2022 campaign. 

Andrew Intrater, a prolific Republican donor, has not only donated thousands of dollars to Santos both in 2020 and 2022, but also poured it into a business that the SEC branded a 'Ponzi scheme.'

Findings made by the Washington Post from the SEC's investigation of Harbor City Capital - the Florida-based investment firm where Santos worked for a year - show the now-lawmaker touted Intrater's company as a 'client' of his.

New York Republican Rep. George Santos is under intense scrutiny for the lies he's told about his personal and professional life including possible violation of campaign finance laws

Recent FEC filings depicted above show Intrater donated thousands of dollars to Santos' campaigns in 2020 and 2022

Documents also reportedly show that a Mississippi-based company, which only lists Intrater as an executive, handed Harbor City Capital a check for $625,000. It's not clear when the payment was made.

Intrater has previously been accused of using his business, Columbus Nova, as a front to launder money for his cousin Viktor Vekselberg - which Intrater denies. The billionaire was sanctioned by the US Treasury in 2018 after Russian prosecutors raided his company offices 'for bribing officials connected to a power generation project in Russia.' 

Vekselberg was sanctioned again last March as a 'Kremlin insider' with close ties to Vladimir Putin's inner circle as part of a widening net of economic penalties in response to Russia's brutal and unprovoked attack on Ukraine.

Santos is among several House Republicans who have received money from Andrew Intrater (pictured), the cousin of a sanctioned Russian oligarch

A video of Santos in a meeting for Harbor City Capital, obtained by the Post, shows him boasting about Intrater and Columbus Nova's involvment in a Manhattan skyscraper project. 

Santos was reportedly trying to secure more Big Apple investors during the meeting.

'You might know who they are,' he said of Intrater's company, which he also pointed out was 'legitimate.' 

'They’ve made the news on several occasions. They were heavily involved with the Russia probe. Unjustified.' 

FEC records show Intrater gave Santos a combined $5,600 in individual contributions for his 2020 campaign, when he narrowly lost to incumbent Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi.

Santos' successful 2022 campaign got $6,600 from Intrater individually.

The Manhattan financier's donation listed his role as asset manager at private equity firm Sparrow Capital. 

The company's name is a rebranding of its previous label, Columbus Nova. A 2019 New York Times report details how Vekselberg's sanctions crippled Intrater's old venture, leading him to sue then-Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and the department he headed over allegedly violating Intrater's Fourth Amendment rights.

Vekselberg was the biggest investor in his cousin's firm, which was caught up in the billionaire's sanctions due to longstanding US policy to extend the penalties onto any company in which the sanctioned person or entity has at least a 50 percent share. 

Intrater's cousin Viktor Vekselberg (pictured in January 2017 with Vladimir Putin) was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury in 2018 and again just after Russia invaded Ukraine 

Allegations that he served as a front for Vekselberg stem from leaked financial documents belonging to Donald Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen, though he was never formally accused of any such wrongdoing.

As for Intrater's billionaire Russian cousin, his superyacht named the Tango was seized by authorities in Spain last April in connection to the latest US sanctions. 

Neither Santos nor Intrater responded to the Post's requests for comment. 

Harbor City Capital, the company that Santos briefly worked for, saw its assets frozen in 2021 after the SEC accused it of defrauding investors of millions of dollars.

Its founder lauded Santos as a 'perfect fit' when he was hired.

But questions over that and the Republican congressman's other lies have spurred growing calls for him to resign - including from several fellow GOP lawmakers. 

But Santos has rebuffed them all, insisting he will remain to serve the residents of New York's 3rd Congressional district.