Steve Bannon, the former chief strategist for US President Donald Trump, has been arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
The Justice Department says the allegation relates to a fundraising campaign to support the building of a border wall between the US and Mexico.
Bannon was taken into custody today by US Postal Service agents. He’s expected to be arraigned today before a US magistrate.
Its alleged that he had a role in defrauding donors as part of an online crowdfunding campaign known as “We Build the Wall”.
Prosecutors allege that Bannon diverted $1m raised by the group to another organisation he controlled and spent hundreds of thousands of donor funds on his personal expenses.
Leaders of ‘We Build The Wall’ online fundraising campaign charged with defrauding hundreds of thousands of donors https://t.co/cH2abWm2Ph pic.twitter.com/NKxfKXkcEX
— US Attorney SDNY (@SDNYnews) August 20, 2020
