Bannon accused of wall scam
Castle Rock man also part of group indicted over donated funds
A Castle Rock man and three others, including former White House adviser Steve Bannon, face federal charges for their part in a GoFundMe campaign to raise money to build a border wall that federal prosecutors say was a scheme to rip off hundreds of thousands of people.
Timothy Shea of Castle Rock and the others in the group said they would use the $25 million they raised from the “We Build the Wall” campaign to construct a wall along the country’s southern border and that none of them would take any of the money. Instead, the group used a shell company managed by Shea and another nonprofit they controlled to send hundreds of thousands of dollars to themselves, federal prosecutors allege in the indictment.
Shea appeared remotely Thursday in Denver’s federal court, where a judge set his bail at $250,000. His next court appearance is scheduled for Aug. 31.
The Denver Post wrote about
the GoFundMe’s connection to Castle Rock in December 2018 after learning that people wanting to send donations to the campaign were directed to send a check to a P.O. box in a Castle Rock UPS store. The GoFundMe’s creator, veteran Brian Kolfage, said one of his “business associates” would pick up the checks, but Kolfage would not name the associate. He said that person had “nothing to do with any of this; they are just helping me with mail.” Kolfage also is facing federal prosecution along with Shea, Bannon and Andrew Badolato. The GoFundMe’s organizers pushed their close ties to President Donald Trump, giving their effort a legitimacy that helped them raise more than $25 million. They touted their effort to help the president realize his vision of a “big beautiful” border wall along the U.S.-Mexico line, especially after his effort to redirect millions in government funds was held up through lawsuits. The organizers used faked invoices and sham vendor arrangements, among other ways, to hide what was really happening, according to the indictment. Shea suggested in early 2019 that he and Kolfage pay themselves from the donated money through shell corporations to hide the transactions, according to the indictment. Those companies would then pay Kolfage and Shea for consulting or social media services. Shea created the shell company in April 2019 and used it to funnel donors’ money to himself and Kolfage, the indictment states. Kolfage received at least $350,000, which he used to buy comestic surgery, home renovations, a luxury SUV and a boat and to pay off taxes and credit card debt. The three other men also received hundreds of thousands of dollars of the donors’ money, which they used to pay for travel, hotels and credit card debt. Shea is not the only Coloradan connected to We Build the Wall. Former U.S. Representative Tom Tancredo is listed as an adviser to the group and appeared in a three-minute ad for the organization. Tancredo represented Colorado’s 6th Congressional District as a Republican from 1999 to 2009. Shea’s wife, Amanda, is also listed as an adviser to We Build the Wall. On her Twitter page, she lists herself as the chief financial officer for the group. She also is involved in the creation of an energy drink called “Winning Energy” that features a graphic of a muscular Trump dressed as a superhero on the can. The drink — a 12-pack of which sells for $36.99 — describes itself as 12 ounces of “liberal tears.” She is not named in the indictment. The Sheas have made several political contributions recently, records show. Tim Shea, who worked as a Realtor, donated $200 to Republican Matthew Durkin, who is running to be the district attorney of Jefferson and Gilpin counties. Upon learning of the indictment Thursday, Durkin told The Denver Post he would return the money. Amanda Shea donated a total of $5,600 to Trump’s campaign and a fundraising committee for the president’s re-election. Hours after his arrest, Bannon pleaded not guilty during an appearance in a Manhattan federal court. He is the latest addition to a list of Trump associates who have been prosecuted, including his former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, whom Bannon replaced, his longtime lawyer, Michael Cohen, and his former national security adviser, Michael Flynn. Bannon was taken into custody around 7 a.m. by the Postal Inspection Service on a 150-foot luxury yacht called Lady May, which was off the coast of Connecticut, authorities said. The boat is owned by exiled Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui and is currently for sale for nearly $28 million. A magistrate judge approved Bannon’s release on $5 million bail, secured by $1.75 million in assets. Neither Bannon nor his spokesperson or attorney responded to requests for comment Thursday. After the arrest, Trump quickly distanced himself from Bannon and the project.“When I read about it, I didn’t like it. I said this is for government. This isn’t for private people. And it sounded to me like showboating,” he told reporters at the White House, adding that he felt “very badly” about the situation. An immigration plan unveiled by Trump last year had included a proposal to allow public donations to pay for his long-promised southern border wall. At that point, the GoFundMe campaign had raised more than $20 million for wall construction. But Trump later denounced the project publicly, tweeting last month that “I disagreed with doing this very small (tiny) section of wall, in a tricky area, by a private group which raised money by ads. It was only done to make me look bad, and perhaps it now doesn’t even work. Should have been built like rest of Wall, 500 plus miles,” he said. 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 conspiracy to commit money laundering. Kolfage did not return a call seeking comment. It was not immediately clear who would represent Kolfage at an initial court appearance. The indictment said Kolfage “went so far as to send mass emails to his donors asking them to purchase coffee from his unrelated business, telling donors that the coffee company was the only way he ‘keeps his family fed and a roof over their head.’ ” In fact, the indictment said, an arrangement had been made among Bannon and his codefendants to pay Kolfage $100,000 up front and an additional $20,000 monthly. We Build the Wall, launched on Dec. 17, 2018, originally promoted a project for 3 miles of fence posts in South Texas that ultimately was built and largely funded by Fisher Industries, which has received about $2 billion in funding for wall contracts. Tommy Fisher, CEO, didn’t respond to calls for comment. In 2019, Kolfage and Fisher successfully constructed a half-mile of bollard-style border fence on privately donated land in New Mexico near of El Paso. We Build The Wall used early construction to raise funds for more cash and more private land donations in along border states. Construction faced resistance by local authorities in New Mexico and Texas and accusations of improper permitting. In May, federal officials found that a section of Fisher’s privately funded wall violated flood construction standards along the Rio Grande. It also caused erosion. Bannon led the conservative Breitbart News before being tapped to serve as chief executive officer of Trump’s campaign in its critical final months, when he pushed a scorched-earth strategy that included highlighting the stories of former President Bill Clinton’s accusers. After the election, he served as chief strategist during the turbulent early months of Trump’s administration. The blunt-spoken, combative Bannon was the voice of a nationalistic, outsider conservatism, and he pushed Trump to follow through on some of his most contentious campaign promises, including his travel ban on several majority-Muslim countries. But Bannon also clashed with other top advisers, and his high profile sometimes irked Trump. He was pushed out in August 2017. Kolfage was interviewed a day before the indictment was unsealed by Bannon on Bannon’s “War Room” podcast. He discussed a dispute with the fundraising platform and encouraged future donors to go straight to their website. Bannon asked him whether he thought the wall could get built for Trump to fulfill his campaign promise. “I think we stand in a pretty good spot, as long as he gets elected,” Kolfage said.