George Santos’ father and aunt revealed as bail bond suretors

The names of the two people who guaranteed the $500,000 bail bond of U.S. Rep. George Santos have finally been released by order of Judge Anne Shields.

According to the court, the congressman's father — Gercina Antonio dos Santos Jr. — and aunt Elma Santos Praven acted as suretors for the bond that allowed Santos to go free while awaiting trial on federal charges.

Very little is known about Santos’ father, as most of Santos’ claims about his family have focused on his mother, Fatima Devolder, who the congressman claimed died as a result of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center — claims that have been debunked by several news outlets. The only previous information Santos had revealed about his father was the claim that dos Santos Jr. was Black, and that the congressman had grown up in a “very bi-racial family,” which he made on Twitter to defend a post he made of Barack and Michelle Obama depicted as apes.

It is unclear what dos Santos and Praven do for a living, and their addresses were redacted from the court filing. The New York Times reported his father lives in Queens and works as either a painter or in construction, based on campaign finance records submitted while making donations to his son's 2022 campaign.

The release followed a petition by numerous media outlets asking for the names of Santos’ suretors. Santos, the Republican representative for parts of Nassau County's North Shore and Queens, submitted an eight-page appeal June 9 to have the names redacted by the court, asserting that releasing the names would put his suretors at risk of harassment by members of the media.

Santos has expressed anger in the past regarding the release of the names. At his arraignment on May 10, Santos was infuriated when a member of the media asked him about the suretors.

“That is information you’ll never get,” Santos angrily retorted. “Your intention is to go harass them and make their lives miserable. You’re not getting that.”

Joseph Murray, who represents Santos as his attorney, had previously stated to the Associated Press the Republican would rather go to jail than have the names revealed. Originally there were three suretors, however according to Murray one withdrew support, possibly due to the public interest in the case.

Yet it looks like that was just another lie by Santos, as he remains out of prison despite the release of his suretors’ names.

The New York Times had previously reported that the House Ethics Committee has also expressed interest in the names of the Santos’ suretors, in order to gauge whether the $500,000 bail bond is in violation of House Ethics rules regarding gifts. As the bond was made by family members, it remains to be seen what the response from the Ethics Committee will be.

Santos is currently facing 13 felony counts, which cover everything from fraud to money laundering, making false statements and theft of public funds, related to his acquisition of Covid-19 federal unemployment funds at a time when he was employed. If convicted of the top counts, Santos could face up to 20 years in prison.

The Congressman’s next court date is June 30.