Steve Bannon, a former adviser to US President Donald Trump, has been charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud in relation to a fundraising campaign to support the building of the US-Mexico border wall.
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Federal prosecutors alleged Mr Bannon and three others “orchestrated a scheme to defraud hundreds of thousands of donors” in connection with an online crowdfunding campaign called "We Build The Wall" that raised more than $25 million to build a barrier along the southern border of the United States, Attorney Audrey Strauss said.
Despite portraying “We Build the Wall” as a volunteer organisation, Mr Bannon received more than $1 million (Dh3.6m) from the group, some of which was used to pay for his personal expenses, prosecutors said. He is expected to appear in court in New York and is expected to plead not guilty, MSNBC citing an unnamed source.
“As alleged, the defendants defrauded hundreds of thousands of donors, capitalising 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,” Ms Strauss said.
A phone at the office of Mr Bannon’s lawyer went unanswered on Thursday. A spokeswoman for Mr Bannon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Alongside Mr Bannon, "We Build The Wall" founders Brian Kolfage, Andrew Badolato and Timothy Shea were also indicted.
Mr Kolfage, whom prosecutors described as the public face and founder of the operation, received thousands of dollars that he used to fund a lavish lifestyle. He is due to appear in federal court in Florida on Thursday. The other two defendants are due to appear in courts in the Middle District of Florida and Colorado.
Mr Bannon, 66, served as the chief executive of Mr Trump’s presidential campaign and was the ideological architect of his populist vision.
The former leader of Breitbart News helped Mr Trump grow his appeal among the far-right – often prompting accusations of racism and conspiracy-mongering – and in the White House was a leading proponent of the administration’s efforts to ban travel from a group of Muslim-majority countries.
But Mr Bannon’s tenure in the administration was a rocky one. Opponents accused him of leaking frequently to the media and rushing haphazard efforts to root out “deep state” opponents of the administration, while coverage suggesting that he was leveraging outsize influence to manipulate the president quickly drew Mr Trump’s ire.
Mr Bannon was ousted seven months into his role during the controversy over Mr Trump’s handling of the violence that erupted surrounding white supremacist protests in Charlottesville. Mr Bannon applauded Mr Trump’s strategy to voice support for some of the demonstrators protesting the removal of Confederate statutes who marched with individuals chanting Nazi slogans.
Source: Thenational
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