Kobach looks to pay himself from We Build the Wall bank accounts; prosecutors say no
Kris Kobach wants to access bank accounts belonging to a charity that’s building a wall on the United States-Mexico border and whose principals are under indictment for fraud so he can pay himself legal fees, court records show.
Federal prosecutors in New York asked a judge on Tuesday to reject an attempt by Kobach, who is the general counsel for the We Build the Wall charity, to lift a restraining order placed on three of its bank accounts.
Prosecutors said Kobach wants funds from We Build the Wall’s accounts to pay legal fees to himself and one of his attorneys, a position that the government says puts Kobach in front of the line to get paid ahead of victims of the charity’s alleged fraud.
Kobach could not immediately be reached for comment.
The government’s motion was filed on Tuesday in a criminal case in the U.S. District Court of Southern New York involving four men involved in raising more than $25 million for We Build the Wall, which said it would use donations to build a border wall along a portion of the U.S. border with Mexico.
The effort was meant to supplement one of Trump’s controversial 2016 campaign pledges to construct a barrier along the southern border in an attempt to discourage undocumented immigrants from entering the U.S. illegally.
Prosecutors allege that the four men — Brian Kolfage, Timothy Shea, Andrew Badolato and Steve Bannon, the former White House chief strategist to President Donald Trump — took some of the donations to enrich themselves, despite promises that they wouldn’t take compensation from donations.
They were building the section of the wall on private property near Sunland Park, New Mexico. Trump complained in July that We Build the Wall’s efforts, which reportedly resulted in a shabbily built structure, “was done to make me look bad.”
The defendants were indicted on Aug. 17 on charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. They have pleaded not guilty; a trial has been scheduled for May 24, 2021.
Kobach, a former Kansas secretary of state, is We Build the Wall’s general counsel. He is not charged with any crime or accused of wrongdoing. He earlier referred to his work on We Build the Wall’s behalf as “one of the most rewarding things I have done in my career.”
The government’s motion on Tuesday references an earlier filing by Kobach and We Build the Wall to modify a restraining order placed upon, among other things, funds in three bank accounts in the charity’s name. The government said the restraining order, which was filed under seal, was meant to “safeguard funds” that it could later recover through a forfeiture order if it convicts the defendants.
The filing by Kobach and We Build the Wall was not publicly listed on the docket.
Prosecutors said the restraining order only prohibits taking money out of the bank accounts and doesn’t stop We Build the Wall from accepting new donations and using them for legitimate expenses.
“The concerns about safeguarding funds are particularly acute here because Kobach has made clear, through his counsel, that he seeks release of the funds from We Build the Wall’s accounts so that he may pay himself and his attorney who filed this motion,” the government’s motion said.
The motion went on to say that outsiders to the criminal case, like Kobach, can challenge a forfeiture order later on if one or all the defendants are convicted.
Until then, the government argued, Kobach is “nothing more than an unsecured creditor with no property interest in the (bank accounts).”
The government also asked the judge to reject Kobach’s request to unseal documentation supporting the restraining order because it would reveal details of the government’s ongoing investigation.
Bryan Lowry and Ben Wieder of The Star’s Washington bureau contributed to this report.
This story was originally published October 27, 2020 at 5:36 PM.
