Robert Allen

Detroit Free Press

A woman testified this morning that a Michigan House representative currently running for re-election asked her to send fabricated pay stubs to a bank in 2010 so he could receive a loan.

State Rep. Brian Banks, 39, D-Harper Woods, faces three felonies and one misdemeanor in connection with a $3,000 loan he took out in 2010 from a Detroit area credit union. District Judge Deborah Langston found sufficient evidence in court Tuesday to bind him over for trial on the charges.

Banks won his party's nomination last week in the race to retain his seat against Republican William Broman of Grosse Pointe Woods in the Nov. 8 general election. His attorney, Ben Gonek, said the charges filed less than two months before the Aug. 2 primary election are "clearly politically motivated."

The witness, Beverly Watkins Fuller, testified at Banks' preliminary examination in 36th District Court. Watkins Fuller said she identified Banks as an employee of IHI Consultants in faxed fake pay stubs and a fake letter to the bank.

Watkins Fuller, owner of IHI Consultants in 2010, testified that Banks was not on the payroll, and she'd received less than $100 in cash in exchange for the false documents. She said she decided to testify after she was offered immunity.

The charges filed against Banks by the Michigan Attorney General's Office include two counts of uttering and publishing false information and two counts of using that false information to obtain a loan from the Diversified Members Credit Union in Detroit.

Penalties on conviction range from a year in jail to 14 years in prison. But state Attorney General Bill Schuette also charged Banks with being a habitual offender because of previous felony convictions of writing bad checks in 1999, 2000, 2003 and 2005. If convicted of being a habitual offender, Banks could face 15 or more years in prison.

Testimony Tuesday showed that the documents in the latest case falsely described Banks as a research attorney making $92,400 per year. Bank employees testified Tuesday that Banks was initially denied a request for a $7,500 loan, but they approved instead a $3,000 loan for him.

After making one payment on the loan, Banks allegedly stopped making payments, and the loan was referred to the credit union's collection department. The credit union sued Banks for the loan repayment and settled for 90% of the loan, plus interest, according to the complaint filed by the attorney general's office.

Tuesday's preliminary examination moved forward after defense attorney Ben Gonek sought to have Langston disqualified and asked her to recuse herself. He said that there was a "heated exchange" between her and his client at a legislative update session at 36th District Court. And he said that she previously insulted both Gonek and Banks multiple times during a sidebar at a previous court appearance.

Gonek said there's "both a bias and a prejudice against Mr. Banks. ... The appearance of impropriety should be avoided, and the case should be assigned to another judge."

Langston said she recalled coming to speak at the meeting but at the time didn't know who Banks was.

"Mr. Banks told you something that was completely made up," she said. "That was absolutely false. I didn't have anything against him." She also denied the insult.

Gonek said he wouldn't participate in the exam, but eventually he did.

"I have an ethical obligation to defend my client," he said after Tuesday's court hearing. "Despite her kangaroo courtroom antics, I tried to do that."

He said he's appealing the disqualification issue and also said he intends to file a judicial tenure complaint against Langston.

Banks' next court appearance is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Aug. 23 in Wayne County Circuit Court.

Free Press staff writer Kathleen Gray contributed to this report.

Contact Robert Allen @rallenMI or rallen@freepress.com