The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office has opened an investigation into Steve Bannon, who was a senior adviser to former President Donald Trump, in connection with his role in a charity that was supposed to use private funds to build the U.S.-Mexico border wall, according to a senior law enforcement official.
The inquiry into Bannon by Manhattan D.A. Cy Vance’s office comes on the heels of Trump’s last-minute pardon of Bannon in a federal case linked to the wall project, where he faced charges over his alleged role in a scheme that pocketed the donations from the charity for private use.
The inquiry was first reported by The Washington Post.
A president’s ability to pardon an individual only extends to federal cases and charges, not to state ones.
The Manhattan D.A. investigation into Bannon began shortly after his pardon last month. Investigators have already made records requests, according to the official.
A spokesperson for Vance’s office declined to comment, as did an attorney for Bannon. A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, which had indicted Bannon and is still moving forward with the other individuals allegedly involved in the charity scheme, also declined comment.
According to the federal indictment, unsealed last August, Bannon, Brian Kolfage, Andrew Badolato, Timothy Shea “and others orchestrated a scheme to defraud hundreds of thousands of donors.”
The four were indicted on one count of allegedly conspiring to commit wire fraud and another for conspiring to commit money laundering.
Bannon was brought into custody by U.S. Postal Inspection Service agents while on board the yacht of Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui.
The defendants’ online crowdfunding campaign “We Build The Wall” raised more than $25 million, with Kolfage “repeatedly and falsely assured the public that he would ‘not take a penny in salary.'” Bannon also publicly stated, “we’re a volunteer organization,” according to the indictment.
But the defendants took hundreds of thousands of donated dollars and used them for personal expenses, prosecutors said.
Bannon pleaded not guilty prior to receiving his pardon. The other co-defendants have also pleaded not guilty.
“I think it’s a very sad thing for Mr. Bannon,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office at the time of Bannon’s indictment, during a meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhim. “I didn’t know any of the other people either, but it’s, it’s sad. It’s very sad.”
Kolfage pocketed more than $350,000 in “We Build The Wall” money while Bannon used a separate nonprofit organization under his control to receive more than $1 million from wall-building fund, according to the federal indictment.
Vance is also in the midst of a legal battle to bring mortgage fraud charges against former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, who was convicted on federal conspiracy and witness tampering charges, but later pardoned by Trump.
An appeals court has ruled that Manafort is entitled to protection from prosecution via the double jeopardy rule.
Adiel Kaplan contributed.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
