The Republican congressman George Santos, exposed for lying extensively about his background and campaign finance disclosures, on Wednesday pleaded not guilty in federal court in New York on Wednesday to multiple charges of fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds and making false statements. Santos denies all 13 counts and was released on a $500,000 bond. He emerged from the federal courthouse in Central Islip, Long Island, about 45 miles east of Manhattan, into bright sunshine and allowed a cluster of reporters to gather around him. “It’s a witch-hunt,” he said, about the government’s case against him and pledged “I will get to clear my name.” He added: “I have plenty of evidence … that will defend my innocence.” He is not due to appear in court again until 30 June. Having surrendered his passport, and having given addresses in the New York City borough of Queens and Washington DC, Santos was told by the US magistrate judge Arlene Lindsay that he was allowed to travel to Long Island, New York City and Washington. Travel elsewhere will require advance notice. He was expected to return almost immediately to Capitol Hill, where the House of Representatives is in session. Santos said: “I have to get back and vote tomorrow” on a bill put forward by House Republicans mandating hardline restrictions on migration across the US-Mexico border. Santos’s attorney, Joseph Murray, told the Guardian: “He is definitely running for re-election. He is planning to go back to work.” Santos surrendered on Wednesday morning a day after he was informed of the indictment, slipping in through a back door. The congressman was probably treated the same as any other criminal defendant, former prosecutors said: being fingerprinted, getting his mugshot taken and sitting for a preliminary interview. The indictment was unsealed that morning and contained seven counts of wire fraud, three of money laundering, one of theft of public money and two of making materially false statements in reports to the House of Representatives. Santos faces a maximum sentence of 20 years on the top count, the US attorney’s office for the eastern district of New York said. He will not have to relinquish his seat, though members sentenced to at least two years cannot vote or be on committees. “The allegations in the indictment charge Santos with relying on repeated dishonesty and deception to ascend to the halls of Congress and enrich himself,” the US attorney Breon Peace said. The indictment outlined three alleged fraudulent schemes, including one in which prosecutors said Santos and an unnamed Queens-based consultant induced donors to give money used to pay for luxury goods and personal debts. The second alleged scheme involved unemployment benefits fraud during the Covid pandemic, when Santos applied for government assistance though he was employed and receiving a $120,000 salary from an investment firm in Florida. The third alleged scheme involved Santos misleading the House about his financial situation, overstating a source of income without disclosing his salary in May 2020, during his first, unsuccessful run for Congress, then making false statements in September 2022 during his victorious run. The false information prosecutors say Santos included in his second financial disclosure saw significant amounts of money at stake in bizarre circumstances. Prosecutors alleged Santos falsely certified a $750,000 salary and between $1m and $5m in dividends from his company, the Devolder Organization, and claimed to have $100,000 to $250,000 in a checking account and between $1m and $5m in savings. Santos was informed about the charges on Tuesday, before they were widely reported. Santos’s staff were told they should work from home for an unspecified period, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. Santos was elected after a campaign built partly on falsehoods, including that he was a wealthy Wall Street dealmaker and star college athlete. In reality, he did not work at the firms he claimed, did not go to college and struggled financially. But Santos has so far managed to evade serious political repercussions, largely as Republicans hold a razor-thin House majority and Santos was a key vote for Kevin McCarthy as he won the speakership. His most pressing issue until the indictment was an investigation by the House ethics committee, which rarely disciplines members. McCarthy said he would ask Santos to resign if found guilty of the federal charges. Santos has emphatically denied wrongdoing and refused to resign, even as he faces pressure from New York Republicans and Democrats. The Republican Marc Molinaro told reporters: “George Santos should have resigned in December. George Santos should have resigned in January. George Santos should have resigned yesterday. And perhaps he’ll resign today. But sooner or later … both the truth and justice will be delivered to him.” Ritchie Torres, a New York Democrat, called him “a pathological liar and lawbreaker who lied to the voters of New York state and defrauded his way into the United States Congress”, adding: “Santos is a deep rot of corruption at the core of Congress.” Irregularities in Santos’s filings, widely reported by news outlets, were apparent on their face: 1,200 payments of $199.99 – one cent below the threshold at which receipts are required – an unregistered fund that raised vast sums, and around $40,000 for air travel. Santos claimed he loaned his campaign and political action committees more than $750,000, but it was unclear how he would have come into that kind of wealth after struggling to pay rent and facing eviction. Santos described the Devolder Organization as a broker for luxury items. The business was incorporated in Florida shortly after Santos stopped working as a salesman for a company separately accused by federal prosecutors of operating an illegal Ponzi scheme. He has faced criminal investigations before, including a case involving fraudulent checks and an ongoing inquiry into charity work for abused pets. When he was 19, he was investigated in Brazil over allegations he used stolen checks at a clothing shop. This year, Brazilian authorities reopened the case.