Former White House advisor Steve Bannon is among four people who have been charged with defrauding hundreds of thousands of donors as part of the "We Build the Wall" campaign, CNN reported.
On Thursday, the Justice Department released a statement confirming 66-year-old Bannon has been charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud in relation to the fundraising campaign to support the U.S.-Mexico border wall.
“As alleged, 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," she said.
The "We Build the Wall" online crowdfunding campaign raised more than $25 million.
Those funds, prosecutors said, were then used to fund campaign founder Kolfage's "lavish lifestyle."
"This case should serve as a warning to other fraudsters that no one is above the law, not even a disabled war veteran or a millionaire political strategist," Inspector-in-Charge Philip R. Bartlett said in the statement.
A spokesperson for the U.S. attorney's office told CNN Bannon was arrested in Washington D.C. Thursday morning and is now in federal custody.
