Posted on 08/20/2020 7:15:08 AM PDT by Red Badger
Steve Bannon, ‘We Build The Wall’ organizers arrested, charged with defrauding donors
Steve Bannon has been federally indicted for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering in connection to a crowdfunding campaign to build a border wall. Bannon was arrested this morning in Washington, D.C. on charges he and others allegedly made false representations about the “We Build the Wall campaign.”
Bannon, 66 is expected to appear in court virtually on Thursday.
Prosecutors said Bannon and others defrauded hundreds of thousands of donors to the online campaign by falsely assuring them the organizers were not taking a penny of donation money — Bannon had publicly stated, “we’re a volunteer organization.”
“Those representations were false,” the indictment said.
Bannon, Brian Koflage, 38, of Mirimar Beach, Florida, Andrew Badolato, 56, of Sarasota, Florida, and Timothy Shea, 49, of Castle Rock, Colorado, were each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. Each charge carries a maximum of 20 years in prison.
The defendants allegedly defrauded hundreds of thousands of donors in connection with the crowdfunding campaign, which raised more than $25 million.
The indictment was brought by prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.
“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 in a press release. “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.”
According to the indictment, Bannon took at least $1 million to pay personal expenses.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
SDNY
Lawfare
enough said
I donated. I was not defrauded. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York is perpetrating the fraud.
Two words - Clinton Foundation.
Mrs jimfree and I both sent money and thought we got value.
I think I see what the problem is here.
Insane.
Two words - Clinton Foundation.
This is pretty big news folks. These two words should be the defense.
Yep, Barr has the Justice Department on tight leash.
I said for a while that the build the wall fund was a scam and wouldn’t result in anything substantial but people wanted to believe that we could throw a buck on the pile to build the wall.
If you are a Republican, or a friend of POTUS, get out of New York now.
U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.
Yeah, I trust that crew to be honest...
Wait...I better check to see if it’s clouding up...
Yep
I know this is SDNY, but no way this gets by Barr and POTUS w/o them knowing before it goes public...therefore, there may be something to this...I hope not.
Silly Conservatives!
They see liberals skim 99% from their orgs and think that they can surely get away with skimming a mere 1%
So naive they are....
This is the one Trump said they only did it to make Trump look bad and embarrass him. And it wasn’t built right and to be yanked. Should have been built like the other wall. Poor Steve. He never learns.
Trump ready to hit the pardon button.
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