USA: former Trump adviser in custody on fraud charge

Written by David Fletcher 20 Aug 2020
USA: former Trump adviser in custody on fraud charge

Steve Bannon, Donald Trump’s former chief strategist, has been arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit fraud related to We Build the Wall, a fundraising campaign to support the building of a border wall between the US and Mexico. Federal prosecutors allege that Bannon and three others ‘orchestrated a scheme to defraud hundreds of thousands of donors’ in connection with the online crowdfunding campaign that raised more than £19m. Bannon promised that 100% of the money donated would be used for the project, but the defendants allegedly used hundreds of thousands of dollars in a manner inconsistent with the organisation's public representations. The trio faked invoices and sham ‘vendor’ arrangements in a bid to hide what was really happening.

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