Manhattan DA ramps up investigation of Steve Bannon's alleged border wall crowdfunding scam

The investigation into Steve Bannon is ramping up after the Manhattan district attorney's office subpoenaed financial records related to his crowd-funding border-wall effort, CNN reports.

Subpoenas were issued after former President Donald Trump pardoned Bannon in January for federal conspiracy crimes related to the southern border-wall project.

Subpoenas were sent to Wells Fargo, who handled some of the accounts used in the fundraising effort, and to GoFundMe, the crowdfunding platform where Bannon's project, "We Build the Wall," once raised money. The move by Manhattan district attorney Cyrus Vance comes at the same time his investigation into alleged financial crimes committed by Trump and his businesses.

"Prosecutors alleged Bannon diverted more than $1 million to pay a co-conspirator and cover hundreds of thousands of dollars in personal expenses," CNN reports. "They alleged the victims, including some in New York, were falsely told that all the money donated would go toward the construction effort."

"The defendants allegedly engaged in fraud when they misrepresented the true use of donated funds. As alleged, not only did they lie to donors, they schemed to hide their misappropriation of funds by creating sham invoices and accounts to launder donations and cover up their crimes, showing no regard for the law or the truth. This case should serve as a warning to other fraudsters that no one is above the law, not even a disabled war veteran or a millionaire political strategist," the DOJ said in a statement last year.

Out of the four men charged in the case, Bannon was the only one pardoned. But Trump's pardon does not prevent Bannon from being charged by state-level prosecutors.