One of President Trump's former top political advisers was arrested in connection with a crowdfunding program to build a US border wall, according to unsealed allegations Thursday by federal prosecutors. Steve Bannon is one of four people named in the indictment who now face charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to commit toll fraud for their work in a campaign known as "We Build the Wall".
We Build the Wall began in late 2018 as a GoFundMe campaign launched by US Air Force veteran Brian Kolfage. The ill-fated attempt to privately fund a border wall with Mexico quickly attracted many high-profile Trump allies, including Bannon, Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, former Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling, and Erik Prince. , a defense contractor and the brother of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.
Although those names do not appear in the indictment, Bannon and Kolfage are now grappling with what happened to the more than $ 25 million raised from the campaign. The campaign website and team page remain online.
"As claimed, 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 that money would be spent on construction," US Attorney for New York's Southern District Audrey Strauss said in a statement.
While repeatedly assuring donors that Brian Kolfage, the founder and public face of We Build the Wall, would not be paid a dime, the defendants secretly plotted to pass hundreds of thousands of dollars to Kolfage, which he used to fund his sumptuous lifestyle. "
The indictment details how Bannon and the other men allegedly took hundreds of thousands of dollars while portraying the We Build the Wall campaign as a volunteer effort that would in no way benefit them. Kolfage has made repeated claims that "he would not take a penny of salary or compensation".
Bannon allegedly subtracted more than a million dollars from the $ 25 million raised by the scheme, using hundreds of thousands for personal use. Kolfage is accused of putting $ 350,000 from the campaign for his own personal expenses. The men attempted to hide their payments via a nonprofit, shell company, and a series of forged invoices and false supplier relationships.
In a timely turnaround, the US Attorney's Office named the United States Postal Inspection Service, the law enforcement arm of the USPS, as a key player in the investigation.
"We thank USPIS for their cooperation in investigating this case, and we continue to strive to eradicate and prosecute fraud wherever we find it," Strauss said.
