As the treasurer for George Santos’ campaign and two of his political committees, Nancy Marks is a central figure in the various investigations into his wildly irregular campaign finances. And according to a new report from the New York Times, Marks attracted the attention of federal investigators at least twice before she teamed up with Santos.
Along with being a campaign bookkeeper, Marks has made her own foray into politics in 2020 by running for the board of her local community library. In that race, according to materials TPM dug up online, Marks touted herself as an advocate for exactly the kinds of things that were seemingly lacking in her work on Santos’ campaign including accountability and “careful stewardship of library resources and facilities.”
“Owning my own business for the past 30 years, I’ve also learned a thing or two about creating efficiencies and holding people and organizations accountable,” Marks wrote in a September 2020 Facebook post about her campaign to be a trustee of Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Library in Long Island.
Marks was initially appointed to serve as a replacement for a trustee of the library who resigned. She was subsequently elected to a five-year term. Marks is affiliated with several companies. One of her businesses is Campaigns Unlimited, a firm that provided bookkeeping services to Santos and dozens of other Republican campaigns and committees. The company is based in Marks’ home in the town of Shirley on Long Island.
According to the Times, Marks and her company have twice attracted the attention of federal investigators. Once after she was accused of overcharging a client in 2013 and another time when she was described as being part of a scheme to arrange the sale of a ballot line in 2015. In both instances, prosecutors reportedly declined to bring charges.
Despite the scrutiny from investigators, Marks’ business boomed. According to the Times, Marks’ companies took in over $3 million in political spending between 2009 and 2022. During this time, Marks had personal financial struggles. Records show Marks had multiple judgements against her stemming from unpaid credit card bills. Her home is also the subject of a foreclosure dispute with Chase Bank that has been ongoing since 2017.
As TPM has documented, Santos’ campaign finance reports were studded with irregularities. Those issues have reportedly attracted the attention of investigators. The problems included a slew of charges for $199.99, which is pennies under the threshold that would require itemization, donors that do not seem to exist, reports that were amended dozens of times, apparent personal expenses, and contributions attributed to “anonymous.” As TPM first reported back in January, donors who gave to Santos and another candidate who worked with Marks also claim to have subsequently received unauthorized credit card charges.
The various issues with Santos’ campaign finances began coming to light late last year after the freshman congressman was revealed to have fabricated aspects of his personal history. While Santos claimed to have worked at multiple major financial institutions, his main experience in the industry actually came at a company that has been described in an SEC complaint as a ponzi scheme. Executives from that business were also tied to Santos’ campaign — and to Marks.
In at least one interview, Santos has cast blame for the improprieties on Marks and suggested she went “rogue.” A spokesperson for Santos’ congressional office referred questions about Marks to a general email address for his campaign. A message sent to that address bounced back.
Marks has responded to the scrutiny, which has included news trucks pulling up to her home, by laying low. She was a no-show at a meeting for the community library in January. When Marisa Kabas, a reporter who has extensively chronicled the Santos scandal, visited Marks’ home after that meeting, the lights were on, but no one answered the door.
Marks and her attorney did not respond to requests for comment from TPM. A woman who answered the phone at Campaigns Unlimited said Marks was unavailable.
“Sorry but Nancy is not in the office,” the woman said.
