Report: W.Va. Official Steered Funds to Since-Convicted Son

The Charleston Gazette alleges that "a state employment programs' administrator distributed federal grant money that was ultimately used by her son, convicted felon Martin R. Bowling, two months after he was indicted by a Kanawha County grand jury on computer fraud charges."

The newspaper cites computer and other records to trace proceeds from a $100,000 federal grant to Cross Lanes-based Comar Inc. and subsidiary Vec3, where Martin Bowling was chief technical officer "until he was sentenced to three years in prison on March 5."

The article said Mary Jane Bowling, an administrator at Workforce West Virginia, "hand-delivered at least one of the grant payments" and "also directed subordinates...to make an additional grant payment."

"What's more, Mary Jane Bowling helped to write Comar's preliminary application for the $100,000 federal grant," the article continues. "Bowling also worked closely with a Comar consultant hired to help write the federal grant request before it was submitted to Workforce West Virginia."

State ethics law "prohibits public officials and employees from using their position for private gain 'or the private gain of another,'" The Gazette notes.