Omar Navarro, a favorite of former President Trump’s MAGA movement for repeatedly challenging Democrat Maxine Waters for her seat in Congress, was indicted Wednesday on charges of misusing campaign funds, including funneling tens of thousands of dollars in campaign donations back to himself through friends and family . .

FBI agents also arrested Navarro’s mother, Dora Asghari, 59, of Torrance, and a friend, Zacharias Diamantides-Abel, 34, of Long Beach. Both are accused of conspiring with Navarro to divert campaign donations to personal use. Navarro, 34, is in state custody on unrelated charges, according to the Office of the District Attorney for the Central District of California, but he is expected to be turned over to federal authorities soon.

Federal prosecutors in the Central District of California have released their seal

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page indictment charging Navarro with 13 counts of bank fraud, 26 counts of falsifying records and three counts of prohibited use of campaign funds. Asghari is charged with six counts of bank fraud. Diamantides-Abel is charged with two counts of bank fraud. All three suspects are charged with conspiracy.

Navarro, a Republican, ran against Waters for her 43rd Congressional District seat in southern LA County in the last four elections. He consistently received less than 25% of the vote, but his use of digital media and campaign stunts attracted high-profile friends within Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement, including former national security adviser Michael Flynn and former Trump political adviser Roger Stone.

The attention also led to a flood of donations to his campaign

S

. Navarro just raised $2,846

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2016, but grossed $1.17 million

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2018 and $731,118 in 2020, when he failed to advance to the general election. He collected $85,997 in 2022. Navarro acted as his own campaign treasurer in all four campaigns, according to Federal Election Commission filings.

During his quixotic campaigns against the popular 16-year congressman, he frequently faced questions about how he financed his lifestyle, including high-profile stops at far-right events, while largely unemployed. Navarro came to the attention of the FBI in 2018 after posting a doctored image of Waters’ official House letterhead on social media.

Attorneys for Navarro did not immediately respond to requests for comment Wednesday.

The indictment, made public on Wednesday, alleges that Navarro made payments from his campaign to several individuals, including Asghari and Diamantides-Abel, who then returned the money to him.

The Republican is also accused of using campaign funds to pay for personal expenses, including trips to Las Vegas and wine country, as well as two criminal defense attorneys who helped him when he pleaded guilty to stalking in 2020. According to the indictment, Navarro later reported these expenses incorrectly charged as campaign expenses to the FEC.

Asghari and Diamantides-Abel are accused of concealing the scheme by cashing the checks instead of depositing them into their personal bank accounts.

According to the indictment, Diamantides-Abel and Asghari received $49,260 and $58,625, respectively, from Navarro’s campaign between December 2017 and June 2020. Asghari is also accused of creating a shell company to facilitate the receipt of campaign payments and transfer the money back to Navarro and his own shell company.

According to the indictment, Navarro deposited more than $100,000 in cash into his personal accounts from January 2018 through July 1, 2020, even though he had no other source of income and regularly made deposits after Diamantides-Abel or Asghari cashed campaign checks. According to the indictment, Navarro also set up a sham charity called the United Latino Foundation as another way to misappropriate money from his campaign for personal use.

The indictment includes 13 unindicted co-conspirators.