Another one of Donald Trump’s former associates has been indicted, this time it’s Steve Bannon. The AP reports the former White House adviser was arrested today “on charges that he and three others ripped off donors to an online fundraising scheme ‘We Build The Wall.’”
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 $25 million to build a wall along the southern border of the United States.
“As alleged, the defendants defrauded hundreds of thousands of donors, capitalizing on their interest in funding a border wall to raise millions of dollars, under the false pretense that all of that money would be spent on construction,” acting U.S Attorney Audrey Strauss said.
CBS News reports Bannon was taken into custody by U.S. Postal Service agents. He is expected to be arraigned before a federal magistrate later today.
Bannon was allegedly part of a scheme with three other men, Brian Kolfage, 38, an Air Force veteran from Miramar Beach, Fla.; Andrew Badolato, 56, a financier from Sarasota, Fla.; and Timothy Shea, 49, of Castle Rock, Colo. The New York Times writes:
“As the founder of “We Build the Wall,” Mr. Kolfage promised his donors that he would “not take a penny in salary or compensation” and that all of the money he raised would be used “in the execution of our mission and purpose,” prosecutors said.
“But those promises were false, prosecutors said. Instead, they said, Mr. Kolfage secretly took more than $350,000 in donations for his own personal use. Mr. Bannon, through an unnamed nonprofit organization, received more than $1 million from “We Build the Wall,” prosecutors said, some of which he used pay off hundreds of thousands of dollars in personal expenses.”