Bannon is accused of, together with several other people, cheating hundreds of thousands of people in connection with a fundraiser for Trump's promise to build a wall along the border with Mexico, reports Reuters.
According to federal prosecutors, the donors believed that the money would go to the construction of a wall, but instead they went to finance a lavish lifestyle for those involved. According to prosecutors, Steve Bannon himself received more than a million dollars from the total of 25 million dollars collected during the campaign called "We are building the wall".
According to the indictment, part of the money will be used to hide Bannon's personal expenses during the collection, including through forged invoices and fictitious arrangements, despite the promise that 100 percent of the donated money would be used for the project, writes AP.
In total, around 300,000 people are said to have donated money for the construction of a wall in various ways.
Steve Bannon, a former officer in the US Navy and a bank official, was Trump's campaign manager during the 2016 presidential election, where the construction of a wall was a big election promise. After the election, he became the president's closest adviser and chief strategist. The conservative Bannon is said to have been the initiator of Trump's controversial decision to ban people from several countries in the Middle East. He retired in 2017.
Bannon has not yet commented on the allegations.