George Santos denies being mastermind of 2017 credit card fraud scheme  

Lying Long Island Rep. George Santos (R-NY) insisted Friday that he was cooperating with the FBI after a former roommate claimed Santos was the mastermind of a 2017 credit card skimming operation that landed the pal behind bars.

Santos, 34, shrugged off the accusation, denying any part in the scheme and appearing to give a thumbs-up to photographers as he arrived at his Capitol Hill office Friday morning

The new trouble for Santos comes after Gustavo Ribeiro Trelha, who was convicted of fraud, alleged in a sworn affidavit obtained by Politico on Thursday that Santos provided him with the equipment to skim credit cards for his Seattle-based operation — and that he showed him how to do it.

Santos denied the accusation, firing back in a tweet late Thursday: “With everyone asking I’ll give a simple answer. The newest insanity published by politico [sic] is categorically false. Any news organization willing to do good Journalism [sic] I’ll entertain sitting down with you and go over it all.”

Trelha claimed in his declaration — which was sent to the FBI, the Secret Service’s New York office and the Brooklyn US Attorney’s Office Tuesday — that Santos had a warehouse full of equipment to skim and print fake cards in Orlando.

“Santos taught me how to skim card information and how to clone cards. He gave me all the materials and taught me how to put skimming devices and cameras on ATM machines,” Trelha wrote in the affidavit.

Trelha, who was deported to Brazil in the wake of his conviction, had reportedly rented a room in Santos’ Winter Park, Fla. apartment in November 2016 after first meeting via a Facebook group for Brazilians in Orlando.

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“That is when and where I learned from him how to clone ATM and credit cards,” Trelha alleged.

The fraudster said he eventually flew to Seattle to carry out the card-skimming operation and had a deal with Santos to give him a 50% cut of the proceeds.

After Trelha was busted, Santos appeared at a bail hearing to vouch for the accused, telling the judge he was a “family friend” and rattling off what has now been revealed as his fake background.

“I am an aspiring politician and I work for Goldman Sachs,” Santos said he told the judge at the time.

The Long Island Republican admitted to The Post in December that he lied about large parts of his resume — including his claims to work for Goldman Sachs and Citigroup — but insisted: “I am not a criminal.”

Santos is currently embroiled in a federal probe reportedly tied to his campaign finances and is also under investigation by the House Ethics Committee.