Bannon Was Arrested On Fugitive Billionaire’s Yacht

The Hartford Courant reports:

Stephen K. Bannon, former top advisor to President Donald Trump, was arrested while on a yacht off Westbrook early Thursday, law enforcement sources said. Bannon was arrested by inspectors from the U.S. Postal Service while cruising Long Island Sound near Westbrook in a $28 million mega yacht called Lady May.

The massive yacht remained off West Beach in Westbrook early Thursday. The New York Times reported that the yacht belongs to exiled Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui.

Bannon faces on charges that he and three others stole from donors to an online fundraising scheme to build a southern border wall, making him the latest in a long list of Trump associates to be indicted or charged.

Mother Jones reports:

Guo, a reported billionaire, is one of China’s most-wanted fugitives. Chinese authorities have charged him with bribery, fraud, and money laundering—similar to the fraud and money laundering charges Bannon now faces. He denies the allegations, saying they result from his criticism of the Chinese government.

Guo has helped bankrolled Bannon’s efforts to attack China and paid Bannon $1 million for work between 2018 and 2019, Axios reported last year. But those efforts are reportedly the subject of an investigation, separate from probe that resulted in Bannon’s indictment.

The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that the FBI, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the New York state attorney general’s office are investigating whether a media company formed by Bannon and Guo, GTV Media, violated securities laws and bilked investors.

Last month Bannon and Wengui staged a stunt in which several banner planes towed anti-China messages around the Statue of Liberty.