Former White House strategist Steve Bannon is facing New York state money-laundering and conspiracy charges for allegedly defrauding contributors to a fund to build a wall on the US-Mexico border.
(Bloomberg) — Former White House strategist Steve Bannon is facing New York state money-laundering and conspiracy charges for allegedly defrauding contributors to a fund to build a wall on the US-Mexico border.
The indictment was unsealed Thursday morning after Bannon arrived in New York to surrender to authorities. He will be arraigned in state court this afternoon.
“This is an irony,” Bannon said after pulling up in a black SUV to a courthouse in lower Manhattan. “On the very day the mayor of this city has a delegation down on the border, they are persecuting people here for trying to stop them at the border.”
The charges relate to Bannon’s involvement in We Build the Wall, a group that privately funded about five miles (eight kilometers) of border fencing in two locations in Texas and New Mexico, according to authorities.
“It is a crime to turn a profit by lying to donors, and in New York, you will be held accountable,” District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement. “As alleged, Stephen Bannon acted as the architect of a multi-million dollar scheme to defraud thousands of donors across the country – including hundreds of Manhattan residents.”
The case was brought by Bragg in cooperation with New York Attorney General Letitia James.
Bannon was charged by federal prosecutors in 2020 of defrauding donors by claiming the group was run by volunteers, even as he allegedly took more than $1 million from the fund in part to pay personal expenses. He was pardoned by Donald Trump on his last day as president.
How Steve Bannon Faces NY ‘Wall’ Prosecution After Trump Pardon
Three other men were also charged with fraud by federal prosecutors but didn’t receive pardons. Two pleaded guilty and one went to trial, which resulted in a hung jury in June.
One of the two men who pleaded guilty in the federal case, “We Build the Wall” founder Brian Kolfage, admitted taking hundreds of thousands of dollars in funds raised by the effort.
The New York indictment details several transfers Bannon allegedly made of “We Build the Wall” funds to a non-profit he controlled. Bannon then forwarded a portion of the money to Kolfage or other entities that benefited Kolfage, the district attorney’s office alleges.
The money-laundering case comes as Bannon is awaiting sentencing in another matter. A federal jury in Washington found him guilty in July of contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. His lawyers said they will appeal that decision.
(Update with details of the charges.)
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