Former House Candidate Accused of Misappropriating Campaign Funds

(RepublicanDaily.org) – “Make America Great Again” internet personality Omar Navarro has been slapped with an indictment accusing him of diverting campaign monies to fund lavish escapades in Las Vegas and expensive excursions to California’s wine country.

The 45-page indictment released by authorities show that Navarro will be charged with 26 counts of falsification of records, 13 counts of wire fraud, one count of conspiracy, and three counts of prohibited use of campaign funds.

Also accused along with the 34-year-old Navarro is his mother, 59-year-old, Dora Asghari, and his friend, Zacharias Diamantides-Abel. Along with one count of conspiracy each, Navarro’s mother is charged with six counts of wire fraud, while his friend is facing two counts of wire fraud.

The indictment accuses Navarro of funneling campaign funds to Asghari and Diamantides-Abel before transferring the monies back to himself for personal use. Authorities say that from January 2018 and July 2020, Navarro, who was largely unemployed, transferred more than $100,000 to his personal accounts.

Navarro came into the spotlight as a frequent Republican challenger against Democratic California Representative Maxine Waters, whom he ran against in the last four elections. He has not posed any significant threat since he has always only gotten less than 25% of the vote every run, but he gained fame among the MAGA crowd for high-profile internet stunts and his digital campaign style. This fame also allowed him to collect significant amounts of campaign donations. While he only managed to secure a little less than $3,000 during his first ran in 2016, he was able to raise $1.17 million during his failed 2018 run and another $731,118 when he ran again – and lost – in 2020. Navarro raised $85,997 when he ran again in 2022. Navarro’s filings with the Federal Election commission show that he also acted as campaign treasurer during all his four campaigns.

Navarro faces a maximum of five years in federal prison for the conspiracy charge, up to 20 years for the charges of wire fraud, up to 20 years for the falsification of records charges, and another 15 years for the charges of prohibited use of campaign contributions.