George Santos' company moves HQ from Merritt Island penthouse to Melbourne mail store

The Devolder Organization LLC, the supposed source of disgraced Rep. George Santos's wealth, has changed its headquarters from a penthouse on Merritt Island to a mail-services store in Melbourne. The move came just as FLORIDA TODAY was preparing a story about Santos's Brevard County connections.

Santos, a Republican, was elected in November to represent New York's 3rd Congressional District, which includes parts of the New York City borough of Queens and Long Island.

A New York Times story published Dec. 19 called into question large parts of Santos' resume noting that the Wall Street companies he said he worked for had no record of him. Similar replies came from schools he supposedly attended. Further investigations found a long list of discrepancies in Santos biography as well as a history of financial and legal woes.

Previous coverage:Disgraced politician George Santos has strong ties to Brevard County

'A fraudulent candidacy': Former House Speaker Paul Ryan calls on George Santos to resign

A closer look:Rep. George Santos' finances are raising questions. Here's what public records show.

For at least part of the time he was running for Congress, Santos was working for Harbor City Capital, a Melbourne-based "investment firm" that was shut down by the Securities and Exchange Commission as being nothing more than a Ponzi scheme.

The SEC complaint did not name Santos and nobody has been criminally charged in the case. Santos has denied any knowledge of wrongdoing at the company.

Santos did not list any income from Harbor Capital on financial disclosure forms he filed as part of two congressional runs, a potential criminal violation.

But those same disclosures show a dramatic improvement in his finances at about the same time Santos was working for Harbor Capitol. Santos joined the company in July 2020. It is not clear when he left Harbor Capital, but according to the Washington Post, court records show he received payments from the company as late as April 2021, just one month before the SEC shut the firm down.

When Santos first ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 2020 his financial disclosure form filed that May listed no assets and only $55,000 in income from a company that held conferences for investors.

The financial disclosure report Santos filed in September 2022 claimed he had assets worth between $2.5 million and $10 million and had an income of $750,000. The only liability listed was a car loan from Westlake Financial, a company that specializes in sub-prime auto financing.

The source of his wealth, according to the filing, was the "Devolder Organization," which Santos has described as a firm that managed his family's assets, which he said totaled $80 million. Devolder was Santos' mother's maiden name and he sometimes goes by George Devolder Santos or just George Devolder.

The Devolder Organization was first incorporated in Florida in May 2021 with the now-empty Melbourne offices of a Ob/Gyn practice listed as its address. The doctor who practiced there is Odette Daley, the wife of Devaughn Dames, who had been chief financial officer of Harbor City. Several companies tied to former Harbor City executives listed the medical offices as their address.

Santos filed new paperwork with the state reviving the firm in December, one day after the New York Times expose. This time it listed a Merritt Island penthouse as it headquarters. Public records indicate the penthouse is the home of Jayson Benoit, who had been Harbor City's chief technology officer.

But on January 11, the day before FLORIDA TODAY first published its story detailing Santos's Brevard connections, the Devolder Organization changed again, to a Fast Mail N More store in Melbourne, using the same box number as D&D International Investment Services Inc. D&D is listed as the registered agent for the Devolder Organization. State records show Dames as president of D&D and Daley as vice president.

Numerous attempts to reach Santos, Dames and others involved have been unsuccessful.

A 25+ year veteran of FLORIDA TODAY, John McCarthy currently oversees the space team and special projects. Support quality local journalism by subscribing to FLORIDA TODAY. You can contact McCarthy at 321-752-5018 or jmccarthy@floridatoday.com.

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: George Santos moves Devolder Organization HQ to Melbourne, Florida