ST. LOUIS — President Donald Trump's new pick to be the region's U.S. Attorney on Wednesday dropped a criminal case against two local developers and their accountant, one of whom is represented by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi's brother.

U.S. Attorney Thomas Albus personally filed the motion to dismiss the fraud charges against Sid Chakraverty, his brother, Vic Alston, and their accountant, Shijing "Poppy" Cao, bypassing the career federal prosecutor who brought the case last year and just three weeks ago argued against the developers' motion to dismiss.

Albus wrote in his filing that the minority business program that Chakraverty, Alston and Cao are accused of defrauding with fake documents has been paused by St. Louis and deemed unconstitutional by the U.S. Department of Justice. The

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