A veteran has accused George Santos of taking money from his sick dog’s GoFundMe. Rich Osthoff says he spoke to one Anthony Devolder – a known Santos alias – about the fundraiser. Santos denied knowing Osthoff. Something is loading.
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A military veteran accuses outrageous rep George Santos of taking $3,000 of GoFundMe funds intended for his dying dog.
Rich Osthoff, who lives in New Jersey, told the Patch news outlet about a conversation he had with a man named Anthony Devolder in 2016. Devolder is one of Santos’ known aliases.
Osthoff told the outlet that his dog Sapphire was dying of a stomach tumor and that Devolder offered to help, starting a GoFundMe page for Sapphire in May 2016. But after GoFundMe raised $3 $000, Osthoff says Devolder closed the fundraising page and started ghosting it.
Osthoff said that during a phone conversation, Devolder told him that the money raised through Sapphire’s GoFundMe would go to “other dogs,” according to Patch. Devolder eventually stopped responding to Osthoff’s texts and calls, Osthoff said.
The New York Times reported on Dec. 19 that Santos claimed to have founded a charity called Friends of Pets United from 2013 to 2018. But the Times found no record of Friends of Pets United ever being registered as a charity.
The insider saw multiple posts on Osthoff’s Facebook page from May to July 2016 that linked to a GoFundMe page titled “Click here to support Sapphire The Rescue of Veterans! by Anthony Devolder.” The page has been taken down and the Wayback Machine Internet Archive has no record of the fundraiser.
Osthoff said Sapphire died in January 2017 and he could not afford to cremate her. “I had to beg. It was one of the most degrading things I’ve ever had to do,” Osthoff told Patch.
Santos denied knowing Osthoff.
“False,” Santos told Semafor via text message. “No idea who it is.”
Santos admitted to lying about various elements of his past, including going to college, being Jewish and working at Goldman Sachs and Citigroup. However, the congressman refused to resign, saying he would only do so if as many people demanded his resignation as there were people who voted for him.
Osthoff and representatives for GoFundMe and Santos did not immediately respond to Insider’s requests for comment.