Ex-Trump Adviser Steve Bannon Indicted In Border Wall Scheme

NEW YORK, NY — Steve Bannon, President Donald Trump's former political adviser, was arrested Thursday and charged with defrauding hundreds of thousands of donors to a fundraising campaign called "We Build the Wall."

The online campaign had raised more than $25 million to build a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico.

Bannon was arrested along with three others and pleaded not guilty in Manhattan Federal Court Thursday. He was freed on $5 million bail.

We Build the Wall originally promoted a project for 3 miles of fence posts in South Texas that was ultimately built and largely funded by Fisher Industries, which has received about $2 billion in funding for wall contracts, according to The Associated Press.

The charges claim the accused told donors all money would be used on construction but that instead much of it was syphoned off to the accused. The indictment said they faked invoices and sham “vendor" arrangements, among other ways, to hide what was really happening.

Bannon is accused of receiving more than $1 million from the campaign, using at least some of it to cover personal expenses.

Bannon and co-defendants Brian Kolfage, Andrew Badolato and Timothy Shea are charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering, each of which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

Bannon was arrested at 7 a.m. Thursday aboard a luxury yacht called Lady May off the coast of Connecticut, according to the AP. The boat is owned by exiled Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui.

Acting U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said: “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.

"While repeatedly assuring donors that Brian Kolfage, the founder and public face of We Build the Wall, would not be paid a cent, the defendants secretly schemed to pass hundreds of thousands of dollars to Kolfage, which he used to fund his lavish lifestyle."

“It’s not possible to steal the money,” Kolfage once said publicly, according to the indictment. “I can’t touch that money. It’s not for me.”

Bannon led the conservative Breitbart News before he was tapped to serve as chief executive officer of Trump’s campaign in its final months. 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.

However, Bannon clashed with other top advisers, and his high profile sometimes irked Trump, AP reported. He was pushed out of the role in August 2017.

Patch Regional Managing Editor Adam Nichols contributed to this report.