Steve Bannon Arrested in Alleged Fraud Scheme

Steve Bannon

Former adviser to President Trump, Steve Bannon, was arrested this morning on charges that he, and three others, misappropriated  funds from donors to an online fundraising effort “We Build The Wall.”

The charges were contained in an indictment unsealed in Manhattan federal court.

Federal prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York alleged that Bannon and the others “orchestrated a scheme to defraud hundreds of thousands of donors” in connection with an online crowdfunding campaign that raised more than $25 million to build a wall along the southern border of the United States.

According to the indictment, Bannon promised that 100% of the donated money would be used for the project, but "the defendants collectively used hundreds of thousands of dollars in a manner inconsistent with the organization’s public representations."

The indictment said they faked invoices and sham “vendor” arrangements, among other ways, to hide what was really happening.

This appears to be a bit of a stretch, hundreds of thousands of dollars in $25 million money raise could very well be for expenses, at least as far as Bannon is concerned. All indications are that he has substantial wealth.

We will have to wait for more details but it looks like a setup.

The big question though is: Who is controlling the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, Trump allies or anti-Trump operatives? It doesn't at the surface level appear to be Trump people.

Trump recently fired Geoffrey S. Berman as head of the office but Trump wasn't able to get his man, Jay Clayton, in immediately and the office is being run on an acting basis by Audrey Strauss. It is not clear where her allegiances lie.

 -RW

UPDATE

Bannon plead not guilty to charges against him, during a  court appearance this afternnon in Manhattan federal court via video conference.

He is expected to meet a $5 million bail bond that was set.