Authorities arrested a Texas man Wednesday and charged him with trying to dupe former Congressman George Santos and three others, according to reports and an affidavit.
Hector Medina, Jr., of El Paso, “knowingly and intentionally” attempted to defraud the four individuals between June 2023 and August 2023 “by falsely promising such persons that [Medina] could cause their criminal exposure to disappear in exchange for large sums of money”, a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) affidavit filed in the Eastern District of New York and shared by NBC News alleged. Medina more than once solicited an illegal interstate wire transfer by texting and sending videos to “the phone number of the United States Congressman for New York’s Third Congressional District (‘Individual-1’)” the affidavit alleged.
George Santos, although not named in the affidavit, was the congressman representing the named district during the specified period of Medina’s alleged crime. Also, “[o]n May 9, 2023, Individual-1 was indicted..with multiple criminal felonies,” according to the affidavit. A 23-count charge in Oct. 2023 accusing Santos of wire fraud, money laundering, identity theft and other allegations followed the 13-count charge in May 2023, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York.
Medina was arrested Wednesday in El Paso, according to NBC News. (RELATED: Guy From Ohio Reportedly Pretended To Be Emirati Prince, Stole $10 Million, Feds Allege)
El Pasoan Hector Medina Jr. is accused of texting George Santos, asking him to wire $900,000 in exchange for the charges against him being dropped. https://t.co/yFkhMLTXC3
— KVIA ABC-7 News (@KVIAABC7News) March 6, 2024
Medina—whose pseudonym was “Michael Soto”—allegedly claimed to work with prosecutors and judges throughout the U.S., according to a transcript of a video Medina allegedly sent to Santos as shared in the affidavit. The transcript reportedly read in part, “I can get everything dropped, evidence that is on you removed, disappeared.”
Medina allegedly sent Santos a slew of texts including one that partly read, “All I need is for you or someone to wire 900k,” the affidavit revealed. There was no indication in the affidavit that Santos responded to Medina’s messages.
Medina also allegedly solicited $1 million from “a publicly known actor” and convicted felon, according to the affidavit.
Medina was convicted in El Paso in 2016 for theft and 2023 for fraud, according to the affidavit. Medina reportedly sent a fraudulent check to his fraud victim as part of the court-mandated restitution following his second conviction.