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The former aide of US President Donald Trump, Steve Bannon has pleaded not guilty to federal charges related to an alleged scheme to defraud a crowd-funding campaign that pledged to construct a portion of the US-Mexico border wall. On Thursday, he was arrested on a Chinese billionaire’s yacht off the coast of Connecticut before appearing for his brief first court hearing in New York. Point to be noted that he pleaded not guilty to the fraud and money laundering charges against him. Bannon was set in the amount of $5 million with $1.75 million secured in cash and property. He must surrender his passport and is restricted from traveling to parts of New York, Washington DC, Maryland, Virginia and Connecticut.

Bannon is also prohibited from boarding private jets and yachts without court permission. Point to be noted that 3 other men involved with a ‘We Build the Wall’ charity was also charged on Thursday in one of the most politically charged cases connected to Donald Trump’s campaign in the hands of Acting US Attorney Audrey Strauss. Bannon is a former aide to the president and Brian Kolfage, Andy Badolato, and Timothy Shea each face conspiracy counts that could carry a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison if convicted. Bannon publicly said, “To induce donors to donate to the campaign, Kolfage and Bannon, each of whom, as detailed herein, exerted significant control over We Build the Wall, repeatedly and falsely assured the public that Kolfage would ‘not take a penny in salary or compensation’ and that ‘100% of the funds raised.

Point to be noted that US Attorney Strauss issued a statement and said the men 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 the construction along the US-Mexico border. The Inspector-in-Charge Philip R Bartlett said the campaign was used to fund their own lavish lifestyles through sham invoices and accounts to launder donations to conceal their crimes. Bannon allegedly took $1 million from that campaign, some of which were used to cover personal expenses. All 4 men were arrested on Thursday and Bannon was arrested by agents with the New York Field Office of the United States Postal Inspection Service.