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George Santos campaign made suspicious payments to Miami Beach parking lot

Raw Story 2/2/2023 Matthew Chapman

George Santos' campaign filings list a series of strange payments to a parking lot in Miami Beach, Florida that don't add up, Miami Herald reporter Aaron Leibowitz told CNN's Erin Burnett on Wednesday's edition of "OutFront."

This comes as Santos fights a rising tide of scandals, chiefly that he lied about various aspects of his life on the campaign trail, and as the FBI is now reportedly investigating his alleged attempt to swipe thousands of dollars from a GoFundMe campaign for a disabled veteran's dying service dog.

"[One] list of expenses caught your eye," said Burnett. "These are payments over three days to a parking lot in Miami Beach. And the amounts here, interestingly, varied quite widely. Some $3-4. A couple for more than $100. There are two others listed as $99.99. What's the significance of these numbers, and do these add up?"

"Those caught my eye as soon as I saw them," said Leibowitz. "The address listed on the campaign reports is for a parking lot in Miami Beach right near the Fontainebleau hotel. It's a public parking lot. In order to park there, you have to pay $20. That's for any amount of time. It's a flat $20 rate. There's a 35-cent transaction fee if you use a mobile app. Residents can get a $6 rate. So the amount should be multiples of that. They should be multiples of 20 or multiples of 6. And then you factor in this transaction fee if you're using the app."

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"I reached out to the City of Miami Beach, and their parking director essentially told me these amounts appear to be impossible based on the filings, which was the address of this particular public parking lot," added Leibowitz.

Santos has come under particular scrutiny for irregularities in his campaign finance, including a filing that acknowledges $500,000 in "personal loans" to his campaign weren't actually his, maxed-out donors to his campaign that don't appear to exist, and confusion about whether his campaign even has a treasurer working for it anymore.

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George Santos campaign made suspicious payments to Miami Beach parking lot

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