Former County Official Charged in $1.5M Bank Fraud; 'Fired' in February Along with His Wife

The former long-time chairman of the St. Louis County Planning Commission has been charged with one count of felony bank fraud, according to the Eastern District of the U.S. Attorney General’s Office.

Douglas Morgan, of Chesterfield, was indicted today by a federal grand jury on the charge, which involved a series of loans obtained through Commercial Bank of St. Louis. He was a member of the bank’s advisory board and a shareholder.

If convicted, Morgan could face a maximum of 30 years in prison and fines up to $1 million. The outstanding loan balances amount to about $1.5 million. 

Morgan was first appointed to the Planning Commission in 1988, said Mac Scott, a St. Louis County spokesman. He served as chairman of the committee since 1992. 

Top County Executive Charlie Dooley fired both Morgan and his wife Adrienne from appointed commissions in February, with some speculation it was because the pair apparently supported Dooley's opponent, Bill Corrigan in November elections. She was on the Zoo-Museum Commission.

Morgan, 65, obtained about 15 loans from the bank from 1999 through 2010 by allegedly using false and deceptive personal finance statements, according to the indictment. Additionally, he personally guaranteed other loans in his children’s names.

The statements used to obtain the loans claimed that Morgan held millions of dollars in funds, assets and real estate, according to the indictment. He also is accused of falsely reporting that the Internal Revenue Service had frozen and placed on hold more than $10 million in trust funds.

“His term expired earlier this year. We had no idea any of this was going on until today,” according to Scott, the St. Louis County spokesman.

Jean Whitney contributed to this article.