Ex-trump aide arrested over claims ‘wall’ donors ripped off
FORMER White House adviser Steve Bannon has been arrested on charges that he and three others ripped off donors to an online fundraising scheme called We Build The Wall.
The charges were contained in an indictment unsealed in a Manhattan federal court that alleged Bannon received more than $1m (£760,000) himself, using some to secretly pay a co-defendant, Brian Kolfage, and to cover hundreds of thousands of dollars of Bannon’s personal expenses.
Federal prosecutors alleged that Bannon and three others “orchestrated a scheme to defraud hundreds of thousands of donors” in connection with an online crowdfunding campaign that raised more than $25m (£19m) to build a wall along the southern border of the United States.
A spokeswoman for Bannon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
According to the indictment, Bannon promised that 100% of the donated money would be used for the project, but the defendants collectively used hundreds of thousands of dollars in a manner inconsistent with the organisation’s public representations.
The indictment said they faked invoices and sham “vendor” arrangements, among other ways, to hide what was really happening.
The defendants learned last October from a financial institution that the We Build The Wall campaign might be under federal criminal investigation and took additional steps to conceal the fraud, according to the indictment. Charges included conspiracy to commit wire fraud and commit money laundering.
The blunt-spoken, combative Bannon was the voice of a nationalistic, outsider conservatism, and he pushed Mr Trump to follow through on some contentious campaign promises, including his travel ban on several majority-muslim countries.
But Bannon clashed with other top advisers. He was pushed out in August 2017.