George Santos filed false campaign reports inflating his fundraising figures to garner national GOP support, prosecutors say

• Prosecutors allege in a new filing that Santos filed false campaign finance reports to the FEC.
• It was apparently an effort to qualify for the House GOP campaign arm's "Young Guns" program.
• The feds also say he reported loaning $500,000 to the campaign even though he didn't have the money.

Republican Rep. George Santos of New York falsely inflated his campaign's fundraising figures in order to garner support from the National Republican Campaign Committee (NRCC), federal prosecutors said in a new filing on Thursday.

The new information emerged as the scandal-plagued congressman's treasurer, Nancy Marks, pled guilty to one felony count of conspiracy to defraud the United States.

Prosecutors allege in the new filing that Santos and Marks filed false campaign finance reports to the Federal Election Committee in the year before he was elected to Congress, including reporting a $500,000 loan in March 31 from Santos himself, which prosecutors say he "did not have the funds necessary to make."

There has been much speculation as to where Santos, who's faced numerous evictions, was able to garner the funds necessary to make roughly $700,000 in loans to his campaign. The filing suggests that at least one of those loans never took place.

Santos and Marks also falsely reported $53,200 in contributions from 10 different family members of Santos, according to prosecutors.

All of this, prosecutors say, was part of an attempt to qualify for the second phase of a program that provided "financial and logistical support" to Republican congressional candidates — apparently the "Young Guns" program run by the NRCC, House Republicans' primary campaign arm.

As the duo prepared to file a quarterly campaign finance filing on January 31, 2022, Santos told Marks in a text message that he was feeling "lost and desperate," according to the filing.

Santos ended up qualifying for the program the following month based on the false campaign finance reports.

Santos' lawyer, Joseph Murray, did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment. His congressional office does not comment on legal matters.

Santos, who already faces 13 federal charges including money laundering, wire fraud, and theft of public funds, is set to appear in court again on October 27.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.