NEW YORK, N.Y. — President Donald Trump's former political adviser Steve Bannon was arrested Thursday morning on charges that he and three others scammed many people who donated an online fundraising scheme called “We Build The Wall.”

The charges were outlined in an indictment unsealed in Manhattan federal court.

Federal prosecutors say Bannon and three others “orchestrated a scheme to defraud hundreds of thousands of donors" in connection with an online crowdfunding campaign that raised more than $25 million to build a wall along the southern border of the U.S.

Along with Bannon, the other three men arrested in the case are Brian Kolfage, Andrew Badolato, and Timothy Shea. They’re each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, both of which carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

According to the indictment, the scheme started in December of 2018.

To induce donors to donate to the campaign, court documents say Kolfage repeatedly and falsely assured the public that he would “not take a penny in salary or compensation” and that “100% of the funds raised . . . will be used in the execution of our mission and purpose” because, as Bannon publicly stated, “we’re a volunteer organization.”

Those representations were reportedly false. In truth, prosecutors say Kolfage, Bannon, Badolato, and Shea received hundreds of thousands of dollars in donor funds from "We Build the Wall," which they each used in a manner inconsistent with the organization’s public representations.

In particular, Kolfage is accused of covertly taking more than $350,000 in donations for his personal use, while Bannon allegedly used a non-profit organization under his control to receive over $1 million from the campaign. Prosecutors say Bannon used at least some of that money to cover hundreds of thousands of dollars in personal expenses.

To conceal the payments to Kolfage from "We Build the Wall," the men allegedly devised a scheme to route those payments from the campaign to Kolfage indirectly through a nonprofit and a shell company under Shea’s control, among other avenues.

“They did so by using fake invoices and sham ‘vendor’ arrangements, among other ways, to ensure, as Kolfage noted in a text message to Badolato, that his pay arrangement remained ‘confidential’ and kept on a ‘need to know’ basis,” prosecutors say.

Acting U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said: “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. 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. We thank the USPIS for their partnership in investigating this case, and we remain dedicated to rooting out and prosecuting fraud wherever we find it.”

CINCINNATI —

A former Cincinnati mayoral candidate is facing federal charges in a pandemic relief fraud scheme.

Investigators said Kelli Prather received nearly $20,000 of the more than $600,000 in relief she applied for.

Federal investigators are warning people who are tempted to defraud the system that they are watching it closely.

They said Prather is part of their fourth round of fraud cases in our region.

"I'm not the career politician. I'm not the party favorite. I'm the person who represents the people," Kelli Prather said during a 2020 interview.

She was in the spotlight running for Hamilton County Commission in 2020.

Prather was more recently running for mayor of Cincinnati, a city plagued with federal corruption cases.

"The reason I decided to jump into the mayoral's race is because all of the problems that I have discussed in the past," Prather said during a 2021 interview about the race.

Now, she is accused by federal investigators of taking part in pandemic relief fraud.

"The program benefits were designed to provide a lifeline, to cover payroll. Instead, the funds are being used for something else entirely," Acting U.S. Attorney Vipal Patel said.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Prather applied for six paycheck protection program loans claiming to own six businesses.

The feds started digging in September 2020, according to documents WLWT reviewed, and they found the businesses did not appear operational.

They said Prather wanted more than $600,000 in relief funds and fraudulently received nearly $20,000.

Officials said Fifth Third Bank found discrepancies and declined to fund more.

Documents show one of Prather's loan applications listed one employee who made $19,862 a month, but supporting documentation showed only $1,500 a year in income.

"The charged defendants used these funds in various ways, but there was a lot of personal use going on," Patel said.

Investigators allege Prather pocketed money and used it at salons and restaurants.

Some of the purchases outlined in the federal complaint documents include stops at Dollar General, City Gear, Kroger and Juicy Crab.

The documents show Prather claimed her businesses were legitimate, but that she admitted some expenses were personal.

Federal officials warn that they are watching these programs closely.

"If they don't stop, they continue on, we're going to come knocking," Patel said.

Prather faces charges including bank fraud, aggravated identity theft and making false statements.

She declined to comment.

Three other people from our area were also charged in separate pandemic relief fraud schemes.

Federal officials said Toni Wright, 34, from Cincinnati, allegedly received $349,000 in fraudulent PPP relief loans.

They said she made false statements at the purported sole owner of Poshedbar, a hair and nail salon, Beautiful Beginnings Doula Service and Jerry's Electronics.

Investigators said Wright used the money for restaurants, purchases at Michael Kors, Louis Vuitton, Kay Jewelers and for vacations.

They also said Wright spent more than $10,000 at Sono Bello, a facility that advertises laser liposuction and body contouring.

Wright faces charges including bank fraud, wire fraud, making false statements and false representation of a social security number.

Officials said Melissa McGhee, 37, from Cincinnati, allegedly received $186,000 in fraudulent relief funds, which she used, in part, to purchase real estate.

Investigators said she allegedly lied about an FHA loan for a new home.

They said she applied for seven different pandemic relief loans and received three.

According to investigators, McGhee used the business names M&MM Realty Group and M&M Realty Group to submit fraudulent applications.

She faces charges including bank fraud, committing fraud in connection with a major disaster or emergency benefits and wire fraud.

Federal officials said Jon Alan Bader, 50, from Dayton, allegedly received more than $120,000 in fraudulent pandemic relief funds by lying on applications.

They said he registered the business, JB Auto Wholesale, LLC, with the state of Ohio in June 2020, after the cutoff eligibility date for the loans.

Investigators said he spent the relief money on Door Dash, Uber, apparel at Puma, Lacoste and Saks, and travel.

He faces charges including bank fraud, wire fraud and making false statements.

A Utah man promised investors his business could turn dirt into gold and swindled millions of dollars from them over several years, according to federal officials. Now, he has been sentenced to prison for his role in an $8 million telemarketing fraud scheme. Marc Tager, 55, is the latest defendant to be sentenced in the scam that started in 2014, according to the Department of Justice. On April 14, he was sentenced to 43 months in federal prison for conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud, money laundering and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.Tager, from Sandy, Utah, was one of four men charged in connection with the scheme that scammed 140 people, most older than 65, according to a news release from the DOJ. Jonathon Shoucair, 69; Matthew Mangum, 51; and Kenneth Gross, 75, were sentenced last year.Officials say Tager, Shoucair and Mangum were the leaders of the scam and they told investors they had a revolutionary process developed by Mangum that could extract gold from dirt. Related video: Keep The Identity Thieves Away With These Simple Tips"Investors were told that the defendants controlled this proprietary, breakthrough, nanotechnology that used environmentally friendly means to recover microscopic particles of gold from dirt," reads the news release.Gross, from Porter Ranch, California, would cold-call potential investors, according to the DOJ, and then pass along interested parties to Tager and Shoucair, who would obtain funds from the victims."What investors did not know was that Tager and Shoucair first met while serving multi-year federal prison sentences together for previous fraud related convictions," reads the release. In 2005, Tager was serving a two-year sentence for mail fraud when he met Shoucair, who was serving a five-year prison sentence for running a $50 million telemarketing fraud, according to officials.Victims of the new scheme were told the money they invested would be used to pay for space, equipment and material to develop Mangum's supposed breakthrough process, according to the DOJ, and that once it was developed it would generate huge returns for investors. Instead, Tager, Shoucair and Mangum formed a consulting business and made "fraudulent statements to investors to secure funding that was only partially used to support the business, which was never profitable."To make their scheme seem legit, the trio created a website for the business, according to the DOJ, that said it owned an 80-acre mining claim with a substantial amount of mineral-rich ore and that their revolutionary mining technology could achieve 20 times the yield of traditional mining at a fraction of the cost. It also promised that "investors would achieve 100% percent returns on their money in 12 months."In total, $8 million was raised from investors through the use of a national telemarketing strategy, according to the DOJ. Officials estimated that only $3 million of the funds was used to pay for potentially legitimate business expenses."However, three million dollars of investors' money was spent for the personal benefit of Tager, Mangum, and Shoucair, with another two million dollars of the funds going to pay telemarketers, including Gross, who helped raise the funds," reads the release.The Utah US Attorney's Office prosecuted the case. The investigation was a collaboration by the Utah Department of Commerce Division of Securities, FBI and IRS.Shoucair, from North Hills, California, was sentenced last October to 72 months in federal prison for conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud and money laundering.Mangum, from South Jordan, Utah, was sentenced in November to 48 months in federal prison for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering.