Feds say veteran Brian Kolfage secretly took donor money meant for building border wall

STARS AND STRIPES ^ | Published: August 20, 2020 | CAITLIN M. KENNEY

[conservative98]

WASHINGTON — Air Force veteran Brian Kolfage promised donors to his online crowdfunding campaign that their money would only go to construction of a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. However, he cashed in on that trust by secretly taking more than $300,000 in donations to buy himself a luxury car, jewelry and pay down his debts, according to a Justice Department indictment unsealed Thursday.

Kolfage 38, of Miramar Beach, Fla., is a well-known Purple Heart recipient who survived a rocket attack in 2004 at Balad Air Base in Iraq that caused the amputation of his legs and right arm, according to his official website. His site also claims he is “the most severely wounded airman to survive any war.”

In December 2018, Kolfage started a GoFundMe campaign called “We the People Will Build the Wall” to raise money to donate to the federal government’s construction of the wall along the southwest border. He later founded a nonprofit organization called “We Build the Wall” to allow donors to transfer their GoFundMe donations for the new purpose of constructing a private border wall. The nonprofit has raised more than $25 million from those donors as well as new donors.

Kolfage was arrested Thursday for defrauding hundreds of thousands of donors by secretly getting paid with their contributions, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York announced in a statement.

Each of the four men have been charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Each charge has a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, according to the Justice Department.

On the We Build the Wall website, Kolfage states he is building a wall on the border because “I take the security of the American people very seriously.” The wall is to be constructed on private property to supplement Trump’s border wall plans, according to the site.

“It’s time we stand up and fight back against the globalist who continue to allow our nation to be overrun. I fought in war and lost three limbs defending this country, but now the war is at our doorstep,” the nonprofit’s website states on its donation page.

While some money was spent on wall construction, all four men took from the funds and spent it on themselves, according to the indictment. In order to encourage donations for the nonprofit, Bannon and Kolfage publicly stated Kolfage would not take any of the money for himself.

“Some of those donors wrote directly to Kolfage that they did not have a lot of money and were skeptical about online fundraising campaigns, but they were giving what they could because they trusted Kolfage would keep his word about how their donations would be spent,” the indictment states.

Instead of following through on their promises to donors regarding no compensation for Kolfage, the men “secretly schemed to pass hundreds of thousands of dollars to Kolfage, which he used to fund his lavish lifestyle,” acting U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said in the prepared statement.

The indictment states Kolfage, Bannon, and Badolato “reached a secret agreement” just days after establishing the We Build the Wall nonprofit so Kolfage could be “covertly” paid $100,000 upfront and then another $20,000 each month.

[RummyChick]

These guys are being prosecuted because they didnt set it up properly.

I suspect that guy had good intentions...although..maybe not

But then when they saw how much money came in...other forces took over.

Had he intended to defraud from the beginning there was a more sophisticated way to do this.

You can look at the charity disclosures and see what they spend money on. I once looked at the one for Holly Robinson Peete’s foundation when she was on Trump’s show. I was shocked at how little was actually used for intended purpose. And it is allowed under the law.

[Okeydoker]

The problem is that they gathered donations by promising that they would not get a penny of the donations, so people gave, and then they created a secret scheme to pay each other hundreds of thousands of dollars and keep it secret from the donors. It’s called fraud.

[conservative98]

On TikTok, Ashley posts frequently from their home in a bikini, for her more than 300,000 followers. In recent videos, she is seen dancing on a table for her husband while he sits quietly. He rarely appears in the videos. She did not immediately return DailyMail.com's inquiries on Thursday morning. According to prosecutors, Kolfage enlisted Bannon and Andrew Badolato after GoFundMe threatened to void his online campaign. Bannon formed We Build The Wall Inc which he used to take money from the GoFundMe account then repay to Kolfage, according to prosecutors. He gave him a $100,000 one-off payment then $20,000-a-month as a salary despite claiming in the GoFundMe account that he wouldn't take a penny. At times, they tried to make it look less suspicious by making some of the payments to Ashley, labeling them as 'media' fees.

https://www.instagram.com/ashleyk_hawaii/?hl=en

[RummyChick]

what kind of car is that?

[Tomato lover]

In case you can not hear me, I GAVE THE MONEY TO THEM - NO STRINGS ATTACHED!

And nothing was done about Biden & Son and Burisma (sp)???

Wall is getting built, I am happy. I doubt if this will prove true. Even if it does, I give them a pass!!

[Okeydoker]

You will be waiting in vain. This case is open and shut. They stole people’s money to finance their lavish lifestyle (which they obviously couldn’t afford otherwise).

[gcparent]

Thanks lol

[RummyChick]

It is possible that Guo could come out and claim he was funding their lifestyle...thus I suspect there is a forensic analysis that proves exactly what happened.

this guy is too much of a rube to get it right....as can be seen by the flashy internet postings of his wife.

[dp0622]

My friend has a string of restaurants in Brooklyn and queens

he’s getting destroyed

I didn’t know you lived around the boroughs somewhere :)

[gcparent]

You sound like a generous person. I suggest
Find a cause worthy of that generosity.

[Okeydoker]

The forensic analysis has shown tht that the money went from the charity thru several Bannon front groups then into their personal bank accounts. The govt already knows the money trail down to the dollar. The indictment spells out exactly how the defendants pulled off the scam.

It wasn’t very sophisticated, just a typical skimming operation.

[Aria]

I understand you can call this whatever you want...but in the scheme of things I didn’t give money to this based on every penny going to the wall....I gave it to make a statement about needing the wall and they have built some wall. Fortunately the US Government is doing so as well.l

If I give money to the Red Cross...how much actually goes to the actual charity? Most of it goes to the administrators for fat salaries.

I just don’t think it’s right to accuse these people and not the others who’ve been rubbing their greed in our faces for decades.

[RummyChick]

IDIOTS. the more I read the more I am shocked that Bannon was this stupid

https://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/ny-steve-bannon-trump-indictment-20200820-hytghwhc6vc6lm6nih7hb6byaq-story.html#nt=tertiarynavbar&nt=ticker

The group kept each other abreast of where the money was really going in text messages, prosecutors said.

“(As) far as (the public) knows, no one is getting paid,” Kolfage noted to Badolato in one exchange, the indictment states. “(Salaries) will never be disclosed.”

[gcparent]

But on another post you said you dont care about New Yorkers. Of course we care about hard working business owners and people Deblasio and Cuomo are screwing around with

[RummyChick]

You arent doing enough reading on this topic.

The fraud can be seen in their own messages to each other.

[RummyChick]

Btw, if you want to really read the details you should keep up with Kushner’s Observer

I have no doubt he will twist the knife in Bannon’s back.

there is quite a history with purported Gambino connected Badolato

[gcparent]

You are right. It’s not that complicated. Just follow the money trail through the shell companies and read the texts. It’s greed. Reminds me of the girl that h8ave the homeless vet 20 when she ran out of gas and started gofundme that spiraled. Remember how that turned out?

[gcparent]

Yes, but Baladato worked with the FBI supposedly.

[Aria]

OK...I’ll read more. I’ve been out and about today with too much going on.

thanks

[RummyChick]

Too tired to trace but a quick search has a Gambino and Badolato family connection. No idea if it is THE Gambino or related to THIS Badolato.