The high-profile arrest of former Trump advisor Steve Bannon took place Thursday aboard a superyacht owned by a Chinese entrepreneur wanted in Beijing. The 151-foot Lady May, owned by Guo Wengui, was boarded by the U.S. Coast Guard, special agents from the United States attorney’s office in Manhattan and federal postal inspectors around 7 a.m. Thursday morning.
Hours later, Bannon pleaded not guilty to charges that he and others had siphoned millions of dollars from an online fundraising effort called “We Build the Wall,” a private group whose stated goal was to raise money for a U.S. border wall with Mexico. Bannon was accused of taking about $1 million for personal expenses. He was later released on $5 million bail.
Wengui, an exiled Chinese billionaire, has business ties to Bannon. He was not arrested yesterday, but there are warrants out for his arrest in Beijing, where authorities have accused Wengui of crimes including bribery, kidnapping, money laundering, fraud and rape.