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Politics

Former White House adviser Steve Bannon indicted on fraud charges

By
Lia Eustachewich
Published Aug. 20, 2020
Updated Aug. 20, 2020, 11:51 a.m. ET

Former White House adviser Steve Bannon has been indicted on charges he defrauded donors to a $25 million campaign to build a border wall, federal prosecutors in Manhattan said Thursday.

Bannon and others are accused of ripping off donations to the “We Build the Wall” GoFundMe fundraiser that was launched in December 2018.

Audrey Strauss, acting US attorney for the Southern District of New York, said the defendants “defrauded hundreds of thousands of donors, capitalizing on their interest in funding a border wall to raise millions of dollars, under the false pretense that all of that money would be spent on construction.”

Bannon, the former chief strategist for President Trump, personally pocketed $1 million in contributions meant for construction of the border wall, funneled through a nonprofit under his control, prosecutors alleged.

Meanwhile, “We Build the Wall” founder Brian Kolfage, 38, promised donors he wouldn’t take a single penny from the pot — but Bannon and their cohorts “secretly schemed to pass hundreds of thousands of dollars to Kolfage, which he used to fund his lavish lifestyle,” Strauss said.

Though it was an initial hit, raising $17,000,000 in its first week of launching, GoFundMe yanked “We Build the Wall,” saying Kolfage, a Purple Heart recipient, needed to transfer the funds to a nonprofit organization — or else they’d be returned.

Kolfage, Bannon and Andrew Badolato, 56, a venture capitalist Bannon was already working with, formed the nonprofit We Build the Wall Inc., which promised to fund the private construction of the border wall.

Donors were reassured that the funds wouldn’t be misused — because they’d have to “opt in” to having their donation transferred to the nonprofit, as Kolfage insisted he would “not take a penny in salary or compensation,” the indictment said.

Steve Bannon
Steve BannonGetty Images

The brazen crew capitalized on Kolfage’s promise, with Badolato saying it “removes all self-interest taint” and “gives [B]rian Kolfage saint hood,” according to the filing.

The alleged cover allowed Bannon, Kolfage, Badolato and a fourth man, Timothy Shea, to broker a secret deal to pay Kolfage $100,000 up front and then $20,000 a month in payments that were allegedly passed through Bannon’s nonprofit and a shell company controlled by Shea, court papers said.

Bannon, however, made it clear he was running the show, prosecutors alleged.

There would be “no deals I don’t approve,” he texted Badolato.

Some of the payouts were concealed as payments to Kolfage’s wife for “media,” with others marked for “social media.”

“As far as [the public] know[s] no one is getting paid,” Kolfage texted Badolato. He also wrote that “salaries will never be disclosed.”

By May 2019, the nonprofit faced mounting scrutiny from the public after failing to start construction on the wall. At the time, Kolfage repeated claims that the group would “break ground in a matter of days.”

He also told donors that “there’s no update because we are remaining silent for a very good reason.”

Five months later, the foursome caught wind that the feds were probing their alleged scheme — and began using encrypted messaging services. They also changed We Build the Wall’s website to remove any mention that Kolfage was not being compensated, adding a statement that Kolfage would start receiving a salary in January 2020.

All told, Bannon raked in $1 million through his nonprofit — with some of the funds going toward Kolfage’s monthly payments and other personal expenses, prosecutors claimed.

Kolfage, a triple amputee who lives in Florida, allegedly swiped more than $350,000, blowing it on a boat, luxury SUV, golf cart, jewelry, cosmetic surgery, personal tax payments and credit card debt, the indictment said.

Badolato and Shea, 49, also received “hundreds of thousands of dollars in donor funds.”

The four men are each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Each charge carries up to 20 years in prison.

All four were arrested Thursday morning, with Bannon, 66, scheduled to appear in Manhattan federal court later in the afternoon.