Ordinary Americans allocated donations for President Donald Trump’s promised border wall with Mexico. However, his former chief strategist and campaign chair Steve Bannon is accused of diverting $1 million to his own account. Three other individuals are also accused of having enriched themselves in the scheme.

What Did Bannon Allegedly Do?

Bannon, the former head of Donald Trump’s campaign and later chief strategist in the White House was arrested on Thursday for fraud. He and three accomplices, who were also arrested on Thursday, allegedly embezzled more than one million dollars that ordinary Americans had donated to build a wall on the border with Mexico. The charges are according to indictments from a New York state attorney.

Prosecutors believe that Bannon was the head of the plot. They allege that he helped launch a fundraising campaign in 2018, calling on Trump supporters to donate money to build the wall. The face of the “We Build The Wall” campaign was Air Force veteran Brian Kolfage, who was seriously wounded in Iraq in 2004 and is one of the four men arrested.

According to the indictment, the hundreds of thousands of donors were led to believe that every cent would flow into a border wall. Trump initially promised its construction during his presidential campaign and in the early years of his presidency, however, he failed to secure sufficient funds from Congress.

More Than $25 Million Was Crowdfunded to Build the Wall

More than $ 25 million was raised for the project, which Trump claims to date that Mexico will bear the costs. However, Bannon is now accused of having diverted more than a=one million dollars into his own accounts and also ensured that hundreds of thousands of dollars were forwarded to Kolfage in order to finance his luxury life, the indictment claims.

In turn, Bannon allegedly utilized the money for “personal expenses” of several hundred thousand dollars. Half a year after the fundraising began in December 2018, “We Build The Wall” utilized part of the money to build a steel fence about one kilometer long on private land near the Texas border city of El Paso.

Involvement of the US Postal Service

The New York Postal Inspector was also involved in the investigation that led to the arrests and charges. According to him, the defendants forged receipts and other documents to cover up the embezzlement. When scammers use the US Federal Post Office, their crime is a case for federal prosecutors. In addition to Bannon and Kolfage, Andrew Badolato and Timothy Shea have also been charged.

Bannon is considered the architect of Trump’s election victory, following which he came to the White House as chief strategist. Within months he fell out with Trump and left the White House.

The Trump Admin Stays Quiet

In response to Bannon’s arrest, Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany stated on Thursday that the president had not had any contact with Bannon since then.

Last year, Bannon concentrated on networking European right-wing populists with one another to bring his fight against the “Class of Davos” to Europe and contribute to the dissolution of the European Union. However, in the end, he had little influence on the outcome of the European elections or any increased cooperation of the Eurosceptic parties.

Bannon Pleads Not Guilty

Bannon has already pleaded not guilty to the fraud charges in a New York court. Judge Stewart Aaron ruled Thursday that Bannon would be released on bail of five million dollars. Of this, Trump’s ex-advisor has to deposit $1.75 million as security. Aaron also imposed a travel ban for areas outside of the northeastern United States and Bannon has to hand in his passport.

While Bannon remains innocent until proven guilty, it appears that Bannon’s shtick of being the last line of defense between the “elites” and hardworking Americans may well have been exposed. This footage of him joking about stealing the border wall money certainly won’t increase his chances of a favorable outcome to the situation.

L'articolo Trump’s Former Chief Strategist Steve Bannon Arrested proviene da InsideOver.

A criminal court in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, has sentenced ousted Sudanese president, Omar al-Bashir, to detention at a rehabilitation facility.

The court, which convened on December 14, initially sentenced Bashir for ten years in prison on charges of financial corruption. It then commuted the sentence to two years and ordered him placed at a facility for the elderly, given his old age, 75.

The verdict brings to an end the trial of the man who ruled Sudan with iron and fire for three decades before his ouster in April this year, following months of mass protests by Sudanese citizens. It is an unprecedented event in Sudan’s modern history and many of those listening to the judge reading out the verdict could not believe their ears, given Bashir’s terrifying legacy.

Nevertheless, many of the same people viewed the verdict as too light for the crimes Bashir committed against the people of his country over his three decades of rule. Sudanese activist, Wayel Nasreddin, described the verdict as “humiliating”.

Osman Merghani, the editor-in-chief of the independent Sudanese daily, al-Tayar, said Bashir deserved to be punished for the crimes he committed against people in the western Sudanese region of Darfur.

“The problem is that judges always rule in the light of the evidence presented to them,” Merghani said. “Sorry to say, the judges looking into the infringements of the ex-president were not given enough evidence to give him a heavier sentence.” The prosecution, legal experts say, should have taken more time in collecting sufficient evidence against Bashir.

The same legal experts fault ordinary Sudanese citizens in wanting to give the man a political trial, without presenting enough proof to indict him, even as this proof is manifest in the beggaring of Sudan for decades and the purposeful abuse of its political and economic life.

Bashir is wanted by the International Criminal Court. The court issued arrest warrants against him in 2009 and 2010 on charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide in Darfur between 2003 and 2008. The roots of the December 14 verdict go back to April this year when a Sudanese army unit raided Bashir’s residence in Khartoum.

After notifying the then-president of the decision of the army command to arrest him, the unit found a large amount of cash in the residence, including millions of US dollars and Euros. This was shocking for tens of thousands of people on the streets, given the acute foreign currency shortage their country suffered at the time.

On the trial day, Bashir sat inside the courtroom cage and looked while witnesses delivered their testimonies. The ousted septuagenarian former ruler’s eyes were full of sorrow as the judges read out the verdict. The court also ordered the confiscation of the money found at Bashir’s residence at the time of his arrest. The court’s decisions come a year after protests erupted across Sudan against Bashir’s 30-year rule.

The ousted Sudanese leader has since then been in Kober, the very jail in Khartoum where he sent his political opponents to for years. Basher’s sentencing does not bring legal proceedings against him to an end. He may reappear in court soon.

In May this year, he was accused of incitement and involvement in the killing of protesters during months of protests against his rule. Earlier this week, he appeared in court to answer questions about the role he played in the military coup that took place in Sudan in 1989. The same coup propelled Bashir to power and Sudan to an uncertain future. Nevertheless, this man’s sentencing gives millions of Sudanese citizens hope that their country’s justice system can be functional.

It shows them that nobody can go with a crime in the new Sudan, regardless of who he is. The verdict against him also functions as a deterrent for Sudan’s new political elite as it tries to put this poor African country together, following decades of Bashir’s one-man rule, analysts said.

L'articolo Sudan’s Bashir Finally Found Guilty of Corruption proviene da InsideOver.