Veteran facing border wall scam charges alongside Steve Bannon says 'not a penny' of the $25million dollars raised was taken to fund a 'lavish' lifestyle
The triple amputee Iraq veteran accused of stealing from the We Build The Wall campaign along with Steve Bannon and two others has said that 'not a penny' of the multimillion-dollar fund was spent on his 'lavish' lifestyle.
Brian Kolfage, 38, is charged with stealing $350,000 from the GoFundMe account he set up in support of President Trump's wall initiative in 2018.
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan last month alleged the Purple Heart had been the main beneficiary of the scheme and had siphoned some of the money to fund his and wife Ashley's expensive habits - including spending on boats, an SUV, plastic surgery, jewelry, home renovations and credit card debt.
But Kolfage has denied any wrong doing.
The We Build The Wall accounts are currently frozen due to the indictment and construction work has stopped.
Brian Kolfage, a triple amputee who served in Iraq, (pictured with wife Ashley) is accused of siphoning money from the multimillion-dollar We Build The Wall campaign to fund his and his wife's expensive habits
'Not a penny of the donations went toward anything that was said in the indictment. Not a penny.
'We did not take money, at all, from donors to buy a boat, to pay for lavish things that they say, for home improvements, for cars, for none of that.
'Everything in that indictment I either owned previously or bought with my own money,' Kolfage told McClatchy.
The indictment posted by the court stated that both Kolfage's Land Rover and his boat Warfighter had been seized.
But Kolfage, who said he had owned the boat and car before the indictment, said: 'Nothing of mine was seized at all... that's something they tried to make me look bad.'
Kolfage has denied any wrong doing (the couple and their children pictured preparing to board a private flight they were gifted by a veterans' charity)
Kolfage is accused of stealing from the We Build The Wall campaign along with Steve Bannon and two others (Bannon and Kolfage pictured in a video on the We Build The Wall website)
The retired Senior Airman also claimed that arresting officers had not allowed him to put on his prosthetic legs when they arrived at his home in Sandestin, Florida, on August 20.
Kolfage, who lost his right arm below the elbow and both legs while serving in Iraq in 2004, said he was forced to pull himself from the ground and into their vehicle.
He branded it as a humiliating experience that his young children had to watch.
He told the publication: 'I had to crawl, like literally hop out of my wheelchair — I have no legs — hop out of my wheelchair onto the ground, and pull myself up into the vehicle.
'My family's there watching out the window and the whole thing is just completely disrespectful.'
The indictment posted by the court stated that both Kolfage's Land Rover and his boat Warfighter had been seized (Ashley posing next to the couple's white Range Rover)
But Kolfage (pictured with 33-year-old wife Ashley on their boat) said he had owned the boat and car before the indictment
Kolfage, who receives $100,000 a year from the Department of Veterans Affairs to compensate for his injuries, said he is now planning to sue the law enforcement agency and the New York court for civil rights violations under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
He added attorneys for the We Build The Wall organization are trying to get the funds unfrozen in order to get the project restarted.
It comes after Kolfage claimed the charges leveled against him are part of a 'politically motivated' scheme targeting Trump associates.
Earlier this month he spoke out against the indictment in his first interview since his arrest, accusing federal prosecutors in Manhattan of fabricating the allegations as part of a political witch hunt.
It comes after Kolfage claimed the charges leveled against him are part of a 'politically motivated' scheme targeting Trump associates (pictured in New Mexico last year)
Kolfage launched the private wall effort in December 2018 - but took it off GoFundMe recently because, he claimed, the company was not allowing him to fundraise for victims of assaults by BLM protesters
Kolfage (pictured after the blast) lost his right arm below the elbow and both legs while serving in Iraq in 2004
'They made it up. It's so blatantly false. If they can do this to us they can do it to anybody,' he told the New York Post by phone.
'Everyone knows that the Southern District is really the sovereign district. They do their own things. They went after Rudy Giuliani. They do what they want to do and it's politically motivated.'
Kolfage's comments appeared to echo those of alleged accomplice Steve Bannon, who last month blasted his prosecution as a 'political hit job'.
The former Trump advisor claimed the allegations were an attempt 'to stop and intimidate people that want to talk about the wall.'
The GoFundMe initiative had raised more than $25million after it was backed by Republican donors in support of the border wall.
Former Trump advisor Steve Bannon leaving U.S. District Court after he was arraigned for alleged scheme to defraud the non-profit on August 20, 2020
Prosecutors however, say Kolfage, Bannon, Timothy Shea and Andrew Badolato allegedly used shell companies and a not-for-profit formed by Bannon to launder the money back to Kolfage and keep some for themselves.
Bannon was arrested and later released after putting up $5million bail, secured by $1.75million in assets.
In his interview with the Post, Kolfage also denied that his wife Ashley had received money from the scheme and claimed he is able to support his 'good middle class family' from the payouts he receives from the Department of Veteran Affairs.
'I'm not living a lavish life by any freaking means,' he said. 'Thank God I have a house that was given to me by the Gary Sinise Foundation.'
After returning from the war, Kolfage married Ashley - a former Chilli's waitress - and lived quietly until Trump's political victory when they then became vocal supporters. Pictured: Kolfage with former President George Bush (left) and the pair are shown with Eric Trump (right) last February
Prior to the scandal, Kolfage had been hailed as a decorated war hero after he was nearly killed and lost an arm and both his legs in a rocket attack in Iraq on September 11, 2004.
Initially, Kolfage was celebrated by members of both parties.
In March, he told Reuters he had begun accepting $10,000 a month in salary from the wall organization, saying the amount was modest compared to salaries paid by other nonprofits of that size.
Actually, according to the indictment, he had received a one-time payment of $100,000 as early as February 2019, plus $20,000 a month routed through a Bannon nonprofit and corporations that were supposedly working on the wall project.
No comments