Washington, August 20: Former Donald Trump's adviser Steve Bannon on Thursday was arrested and charged with fraud over a fundraising campaign to build a wall along the Mexico border. According to a report published in BBC, Bannon and three others are accused of ripping off donors to an online fundraising scheme “We Build The Wall.” The other three accused in the case are - Brian Kolfage, Andrew Badolato and Timothy Shea.

Kolfage is an Air Force veteran, Badolato is a financier also from Florida, and Shea belongs to Colorado. The charges were filed in Manhattan federal court. According to the report, $25 million were raised under the campaign. The former Trump adviser received more than $1 million. Most of the money was used by him for covering his personal expenses. Trump Administration Has Put Together 'War Plan' to 'Take Down' Chinese Communist Party, Says Former White House Chief Steve Bannon.

Bannon will be produced in the court later in the day. As per the indictment submitted in the Manhattan court, Bannon promised that 100 percent of the donated money would be used for building the wall. Bannon and three others were accused of producing fake invoices to cover their fraud. US President Donald Trump Again Pushes Unproven Drug Hydroxychloroquine As COVID-19 Treatment.

According to the indictment unsealed in Manhattan federal court, all the four accused orchestrated a scheme to defraud hundreds of thousands of donors in December 2018. In order to conceal the payments to Kolfage from We Build the Wall, they devised a scheme to route those payments from the campaign to the air force veteran indirectly through the non-profit under Bannon’s control and a shell company under Shea’s control, among other avenues.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 20, 2020 09:15 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).