Prosecutors accept Jorge Santos in Brazilian fraud case

(CNN) Prosecutors in Brazil have agreed to a plea deal with Rep. George Santos In a case where he was accused of defrauding a Rio de Janeiro district clerk out of $1,300 on clothes and shoes in 2008, documents obtained by CNN show.

A petition from Santos’ attorney seeking agreement says Santos will agree to formally admit the crime and pay damages to the victim, a Rio de Janeiro district clerk, as required under Brazilian law.

A memorandum from prosecutors approving the deal last week asked the defense for assurances that they had the ability to contact the victim to pay him back before the deal was completed.

The petition, filed by Santos’ attorney in January, seeks a non-prosecution agreement instead of prosecuting his client, arguing that Santos is now in paid work and “re-socialising.” The petition also asked for permission for Santos to be contacted by the court via email or phone, and to participate in the proceedings via video conference.

Agreements can be reached in non-violent cases where the minimum sentence is less than four years.

Santos did not comment when asked about the reports on Capitol Hill by CNN’s Manu Raju. CNN has reached out to Santos’ lawyers in Brazil and the United States.

In 2010, Santos told police that he had written Bad checks From a stolen checkbook of an elderly man whose mother had been caring for him to buy things.

Santos said New York Post in December He has not been charged with any crime in Brazil. He said at the time: “I’m not a criminal here – not here or in Brazil or any jurisdiction in the world. Absolutely not. It didn’t happen.”

After Santos left for the United States, Brazilian authorities were unable to find an address to provide papers telling him to appear in court, which eventually led to the case being archived, until it was reopened in January.

Prosecutors were unable to comment because the case is subject to a gag order.

This story has been updated with additional details.