Steve Bannon and Brian Kolfage, Indicted for Roles in 'We Build the Wall,' Speak About Project (File)

Former White House strategist Steve Bannon was one of four people indicted on August 20 for their alleged role in a fraudulent crowdfunding scheme to finance the building of a border wall between the US and Mexico.

Bannon, Brian Kolfage, Andrew Badolato, and Timothy Shea were listed in the indictment that was unsealed by Audrey Strauss, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Philip R Bartlett, Inspector-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the United States Postal Inspection Service.

Bannon and the other three individuals were charged for “their roles in defrauding hundreds of thousands of donors in connection with an online crowdfunding campaign known as “We Build the Wall” that raised more than $25 million,” the indictment alleges.

An archived version of the We Build the Wall GoFundMe, also known as the Trump Wall, shows that more than $25m had been raised.

In footage published in February 2019 on the YouTube channel of We Build the Wall, Bannon and Kolfage spoke about their participation in the project.

Acting US Attorney Audrey Strauss said: “While repeatedly assuring donors that Brian Kolfage, the founder and public face of We Build the Wall, would not be paid a cent, the defendants secretly schemed to pass hundreds of thousands of dollars to Kolfage, which he used to fund his lavish lifestyle.” Credit: We Build The Wall via Storyful