The Cautionary
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Greed-to-Grief, No. 24

Greed-to-Grief, No. 24

Lies, lies, and more lies.

George Pillari
October 23, 2025

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You can find previous stories here.

A serial liar is someone who engages in a persistent pattern of lying across multiple areas of their life, often compulsively and sometimes without clear external motivation.

Serial liars don't just lie occasionally or strategically. They fabricate details across nearly every aspect of their lives, including their accomplishments, relationships, background, finances, and more.

The lies often encompass both big claims and small unnecessary details.

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What distinguishes serial liars from occasional liars is the sheer frequency and scope of their dishonesty.

Many serial liars create elaborate false personas to appear more impressive, successful, or likable. They construct idealized versions of themselves, portraying the person they wish they were rather than who they are. This often stems from deep insecurity, shame, or a sense of inadequacy.

Compulsive liars do not know how to stop themselves

For some, lying becomes automatic and habitual rather than deliberately calculated. They may lie even when there's no clear benefit.

Many are charismatic or likable. They use charm and confidence to build trust, which makes their deceptions more effective and allows them to continue lying even as people notice inconsistencies.

Serial liars often seek constant praise, admiration, and reassurance. They may name-drop, exaggerate accomplishments, or constantly reference their supposed connections and achievements.

Stop cringing if all of this describes you or a friend of yours. In this post, we are talking about disgraced former congressional representative from New York, George Santos.

If there were an all-star team of serial liars, Santos would be the captain.

Almost everything the guy said was a lie and he used those lies to get himself elected to Congress. He ran a fictional campaign and people believed him.

He claimed to own a large portfolio of real estate, but he had been evicted from apartments and homes several times. About those jobs at Goldman Sachs and Citibank? Neither company had any record of Santos as an employee.

George Santos, Liar

He denied dressing in drag until photographic evidence outed him. Nobody can figure out if he was born in Brazil or America.

He stole a checkbook from a family that his mother cared for and wrote a bunch of forged checks to buy himself fancy clothes.

Santos set up a fraudulent charity for pet care and then diverted the money into his own pocket, including $3,000 raised for an elderly man who requested the money to euthanize his dog.

According to the law, campaign expenses above $200 must be accompanied by a receipt. The Santos campaign had a bevy of expenses for $199.99. And what were all those barely under the threshold expenses for? Dinner at his favorite Italian restaurant.

There is the $700,000 he loaned to his campaign with no verifiable information on where the money came from, the sexual harassment charges, and insistence that he was a volleyball player at a college he did not even attend.

As an elected member of Congress, Santos became an embarrassment to his country. His fellow members of the House of Representatives voted 311-114 to expel him from Congress, making Santos only the sixth congressperson to be expelled in all of history.

Next came the 13-count federal indictment for, among other things, money laundering, fraud, and making materially false statements to Congress.

At 36 years old, George Santos was sentenced to 87 months in prison. As usual, the Department of Justice did a good job summarizing the situation:

George Santos spent his brief career in public service conning his donors and constituents until the deceit caught up to him and he was exposed as an opportunist and a fraud. Today’s lengthy prison sentence is a just ending for a weaver of lies who believed he was above the law.

But the story does not end here. Three months into his prison sentence, Santos was granted a full pardon by President Trump and walked away as a free man.

Key Takeaways

Santos was charismatic and likable enough to get elected to Congress. For many who “trust the system,” his election validated Santos as legitimate. The system is often wrong.
Most of Santos’s crimes were small and spread across landlords, store merchants, individuals, and others. It took a New York Times investigation to put it all together.
Our government’s processes worked well in expelling Santos. Hatred of a common enemy tends to bring people together.

Things I think about

Greenland Sharks can live up to 250 years.