The indictment said We Build the Wall allegedly transferred the money to various third-party entities. The investigation is ongoing, Bragg said.

The overall yearlong fundraising scheme netted more than $15 million from thousands of donors across the country, based on false pretenses, Bragg said. There are hundreds of alleged victims in Manhattan.

Bannon turned himself in on Thursday shortly after 9 a.m.

Bannon, 68, called the charge a politically motivated persecution as he entered the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office Thursday morning.

“This is an irony,” Bannon said, the Associated Press reported.

“On the very day the mayor of this city has a delegation down on the border, they are persecuting people here, that try to stop them at the border,” he said, referring to a recent trip by New York City officials to Texas.

“This is all about 60 days from the day,” he said, referring to the upcoming national election in November.

In an earlier, written statement, Bannon accused Bragg of pursuing “phony charges” against him ahead of the midterm election, saying the Democratic prosecutor targeted him because Bannon and his radio show are popular among Trump’s Republican supporters.

The state criminal case mirrors a previous attempted federal prosecution by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, for which Bannon was pardoned by Trump.

After the presidential pardon, Bragg said his office began investigating and determined Bannon had to be held accountable in Manhattan “for his conduct as the architect of this scheme.”

Bragg explained that his office’s investigation was distinct from the federal probe, using separate statutes.

The top count of the indictment, Bragg said, is a Class C nonviolent felony that carries a sentence ranging from no time behind bars to up to 15 years of incarceration.

Read the indictment here:

The indictment didn’t identify two unindicted co-conspirators by name, but The Associated Press linked the case to Brian Kolfage and Andrew Badolato, who pleaded guilty to federal charges in April.

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