Ex-Trump adviser Steve Bannon charged with fraud over US-Mexico border wall fundraiser
Steve Bannon, former political adviser to US President Donald Trump, has been arrested in connection with an online fundraising scheme We Build The Wall.
The former White House adviser is accused of fraud over the crowdfunding campaign that raised more than $25 million (£19m) to build a US-Mexico border wall.
Mr Bannon was arrested Thursday, the US Department of Justice (DoJ) said.
The charges were contained in an indictment unsealed in Manhattan federal court.
Federal prosecutors allege the group "orchestrated a scheme to defraud hundreds of thousands of donors".
A spokeswoman for Mr Bannon is yet to respond to a request for comment.
The online fundraising page has since been taken offline but the website for the group remains live.
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According to the indictment, Mr Bannon promised that 100% of the donated money would be used for the project.
But the defendants collectively used hundreds of thousands of dollars in a manner deemed inconsistent with the organisation’s public representations.
The indictment said they faked invoices and sham "vendor" arrangements to hide what was happening.
We Build The Wall originally promoted a project for three miles of fence posts in south Texas that was ultimately built and largely funded by Fisher Industries, which has received about two billion dollars (£1.5 billion) in funding for wall contracts.
Mr Trump recently criticised that section of wall after it showed signs of erosion, saying it was "only done to make me look bad" - even though it was built by his supporters.
Before he was tapped to lead Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign in its critical final months, Mr Bannon led the conservative Breitbart News.
He was then moved to a top White House strategy post after Donald Trump was elected.
Bannon was seen as the voice of a nationalistic, outsider conservatism.
He pushed Trump to follow through on some of his most contentious campaign promises - including his travel ban for some foreigners and his decision to pull out of the Paris climate change agreement.
The 66-year-old clashed with other top advisers, however, and he was pushed out in August 2017.