EXCLUSIVE: Mystery $459,395.83 Donated by GOP Candidate to Himself Despite Saying He Doesn't Have the Money

"I said 'no, I don't have $300,000, period,'" said the House candidate who has somehow donated almost $500,000 to his campaign

What is it with New York congressional candidates and sketchy finances? There was, famously, now-ex Congressman George Santos, and now, there’s Mario Fratto in upstate New York who’s primarying Congresswoman Claudia Tenney despite losing decisively to her two years ago.

On paper, Fratto has loaned his campaign almost half a million dollars–an immense sum in any race, to be sure. But, it’s unclear where his money is coming from, especially considering an interview he gave in 2022 when he told an interviewer that he didn’t have hundreds of thousands of dollars on hand!

“You know what somebody said to me when I first said I was running?” Fratto said. “They said, ‘oh, do you have $300,000 of your own money to put in?’ and I said ‘no, I don’t have $300,000, period.’ And so they said, ‘so why are you running?’ And so I borrowed money, I’ve done what I can to put money in there, and I’ve basically self-funded it at this point.”

Listen for yourself here.

This is an incredibly concerning admission, to say the least.

But it gets weirder. In press release after press release, Fratto touts his small business acumen, claiming to “run[] his family’s granite construction business,” called Geneva Granite.

Strangely, however, his family business makes no mention of him on it–and his financial disclosures list his income as just $26,838 in both 2023 and $23,877 in 2022, which makes the $459,395.83 that he’s donated to his campaign via in-kind contributions and a loan for $200,000 very suspicious. 

Fratto’s financials further list debt totaling several hundred thousands of dollars between student loans, credit card debts, and a mortgage.

Add on top of this mystery money and massive debt the fact that Fratto failed to file the 2022 disclosure required by the Ethics Committee and you have a recipe ripe for massive fraud. These shoddy accounting practices have also dogged him since he lost the 2022 primary by double digits to Tenney.

According to one of the FEC complaints filed against him, his campaign, and his treasurer from last cycle, Fratto “violated the law by accepting and spending approximately $29,600 of General Election funds despite [] not qualifying for the General Election.”

When adding up the income that Fratto self-reported in a two-year period, you get less than 10% of what he’s reportedly loaned his campaign for the cycle. Is it possible that he’s been sitting on a nest egg for years? Of course–but look at his delinquent tax status that dates back almost 10 years.

His home, which is owned by his wife, has a tax lien on it. So does his company, Fratto Entertainment Inc., according to New York’s Department of Taxation and Finance. 

Does this add up to someone who has half a million bucks to give to his longshot campaign for Congress? 

You do the math.