Ex-Trump aide Bannon pleads not guilty in border wall scam case
NEW YORK: President Donald Trump’s former chief strategist, Steve Bannon, was pulled from a luxury yacht and arrested on allegations that he and three associates ripped off donors trying to fund a southern border wall, making him the latest in a long list of Trump allies to be charged with a crime.
The organisers of the “We Build The Wall” group portrayed themselves as eager to help the president build a “big beautiful” barrier along the US-Mexico border, as he promised during the 2016 campaign.
They raised over US$25mil (RM104.42mil) from thousands of donors and promised 100% of the funds would go to the project.
But according to the charges unsealed on Thursday, much of the money never made it to the wall.
Instead, it was used to line the pockets of group members, including Bannon, who served in Trump’s White House and worked for his campaign.
He allegedly took over US$1mil (RM4.17mil), using some to secretly pay co-defendant Brian Kolfage, an Air Force veteran who lost both legs in a mortar attack in Iraq and the founder of the project, and to cover hundreds of thousands of dollars in personal expenses.
“This case should serve as a warning to other fraudsters that no one is above the law, not even a disabled war veteran or a millionaire political strategist,” said Philip R. Bartlett, inspector-in-charge of the US Postal Inspection Service’s New York office, which arrested Bannon aboard the 45m-long luxury yacht called Lady May at 7am, off the coast of Connecticut.
The boat is owned by exiled Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui and is currently for sale at nearly US$28mil (RM117mil).
Hours after his arrest, Bannon, 66, pleaded not guilty at a Manhattan federal court.
He is the latest addition to a startlingly long list of Trump associates who have been prosecuted, including his former campaign chair, Paul Manafort, whom Bannon replaced, his long-time lawyer, Michael Cohen, and his former national security adviser, Michael Flynn.
Trump has also made clear that he is willing to use his near-limitless pardon power to help political allies escape legal jeopardy, most recently commuting the sentence of longtime political adviser Roger Stone.
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 show-boating,” he told reporters at the White House. — AP
This case should serve as a warning to other fraudsters that no one is above the law, not even a disabled war veteran or a millionaire political strategist.
Philip R. Bartlett