WASHINGTON - United States Representative George Santos, a Republican from New York, was hit with additional criminal charges on Tuesday, with prosecutors accusing him of inflating his campaign’s fund-raising numbers and charging campaign contributors’ credit cards without their consent.

A 23-count superseding indictment filed in federal court in New York charged him and his former treasurer Nancy Marks with falsely telling the Federal Election Commission (FEC) that their family members had made significant financial contributions.

The false reports made it appear as if his campaign had raised at least US$250,000 (S$340,000) from outside donors in a single quarter, the threshold to qualify for financial and logistical support from the Republican Party, prosecutors said.

Santos told the FEC he had made a US$500,000 loan to his campaign when he had just US$8,000 in his bank accounts at the time, according to the indictment.

Marks pleaded guilty last week to a conspiracy charge.

Santos, 35, pleaded not guilty in May to a 13-count indictment charging him with defrauding prospective political supporters by laundering funds to pay for his personal expenses, illegally getting unemployment benefits while employed and lying to the House of Representatives about his assets.

He has resisted calls to resign for lying about his resume. He is free on US$500,000 bail.

The indictment on Tuesday accused Santos of using the credit card information of people who had already donated to his campaign to make additional contributions and, in some cases, transfer funds to his own personal account. He is due back in court for a status conference on Oct 27.

Mr Tom Suozzi, a Democrat who previously held Santos’ seat, said on Tuesday he would run in the 2024 election. REUTERS