Thomas Bowers, previously the head of U.S. Wealth Management for Deutsche Bank, died last week in Malibu, Calif., according to ForensicNews.net. David Enrich, a New York Times reporter who’s soon to publish a book based on his reporting on the bank and its relationship with President Donald Trump, tweeted about Bowers’ death last night, saying he knew Bowers and that the news was “very sad.”
According to a California coroner’s report first cited by ForensicNews, Bowers died on Nov. 19, and the cause was suicide by hanging.
In a March 2019 Times article, Enrich described how relationships between Trump and the bank’s commercial real estate and investment banking divisions soured before he met Rosemary T. Vrablic, a managing director at Deutsche Bank and part of its burgeoning private wealth division. Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and a senior advisor, was a client of Vrablic, and he introduced her to Trump when he was seeking a loan to purchase the Doral Golf and Spa. According to the Times, Vrablic and Bowers both agreed to a loan from Deutsche’s private wealth division that would help him pay down a loan due to Deutsche’s investment banking division.
According to Enrich, Vrablic’s role and stature in the bank enabled her to “bypass a layer of management” in order to report directly to Bowers. The president’s business dealings with the international bank have come under intensive scrutiny by members of Congress and the New York attorney general.
After leaving Deutsche Bank, Bowers joined Starwood Capital Group, eventually becoming its chief operating officer and managing director in 2015, before joining Opus Bank’s Board of Directors in 2016 as a Starwood Capital representative.
According to Bowers’ Finra BrokerCheck profile, an unnamed party filed a complaint against Bowers and Deutsche Bank in Sept. 2018 seeking $7,700,000 in alleged damages. According to the dispute, in 2013 Bowers and the bank were alleged to have “breached their fiduciary duties by misrepresenting the nature, risks and characteristics associated with Claimants’ investment in an off-shore structured note.” The dispute is listed as still pending. Deutsche Bank did not return calls for comment as of press time. A spokesperson for FINRA said there was no more information available on the dispute.