Bowman to be tried separately in bank, credit card fraud case

Rep. John Bowman, D-St. Louis, will be the sole defendant when he stands trial on bank and credit card fraud charges.
Judge Henry E. Autrey ruled today in favor of the government's motion to sever the cases of the five remaining defendants. The court set the case for former Bank of America Vice President Robert Conner for a Nov. 26 trial. Dates for the other four will be set later, according to court records. Bowman's trial is expected to be held last, while the other three defendants, Joanna Davis, Max Davis, and Monica Gholson, will be tried at the same time.

Only Conner had opposed to severance motion.

Bowman was indicted in January by a federal grand jury, which said Bowman and his co-defendants agreed to a scheme in which Conner took a bank lending program which provided money to small businesses by offering a $25,000 credit limit. Conner then arranged with the other defendants to apply for the loans, often with fictitious companies, then give Conner kickbacks ranging from $2,500 to $5,000 on each loan.
According to the indictment, Conner approved $1,213,970 in fraudulent loans.
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