AG Charges Beydoun With 16 Crimes In Connection To 'Glass Slipper Grant'

(Source: MIRS.news, Published 05/06/2026) Politically connected entrepreneur Fay Beydoun has been charged with 16 counts in connection with the way she spent a $20 million legislative grant.

Fay Beydoun (Source: LinkedIn)

Attorney General (AG) Dana Nessel on Wednesday alleged Beydoun, a former Democratic appointee and fundraiser of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, used her political connections in both the Legislature and the governor’s office to secure what she called a “special glass slipper grant” to enrich herself in a criminal enterprise that entangled the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) and unnamed “political operatives.”

“These glass slipper grants are dedicated appropriation, referred to as a grant and modeled as such in law, written so specifically, so acutely and in such granulate detail as to who may qualify to receive it, that they could only possibly be awarded to one intended recipient as predetermined by the Legislature,” the AG said during a late morning press conference. “They are, in that sense, glass slippers that can only fit one foot.”

Nessel said MEDC Executive Director Quentin L. Messer Jr. remains a “potential target” in the ongoing investigation, but she noted her office doesn’t have evidence that people in the governor’s inner circle knew that Beydoun planned to misappropriate the money or spend the money illegally.

Messer's attorney has previously said Messer is cooperating with the investigation.

Stacey LaRouche, the governor’s press secretary, said misuse of taxpayer dollars “has no place in Lansing,” and those who misuse the money “must be held accountable under the law.”

LaRouche added: “The budget recommendation does not include these types of legislative enhancement grants because they are not a good use of taxpayer dollars. The legislature needs to continue to work to improve their appropriations process to ensure that every penny of taxpayer dollars spent is used appropriately.”

Beydoun, who was president of the nonprofit corporation Global Link International, is charged with conducting a criminal enterprise, forgery and multiple counts of larceny by conversion and uttering and publishing. She faces up to 20 years in prison if she is convicted as charged.

Nessel alleges that of the more than $1.3 million Beydoun spent from the first $10 million deposit of the grant, less than $20,000 appears to be legitimately for Global Link.

An affidavit from Special Agent Kyle Kolka, alleges state evidence shows that Beydoun converted Global Link's earmark to pay her personal legal bills, to buy items for her home or for her son, to hold political events at her home and to pay for a lease that Global Link could not have used based on its one-year term.

Kolka’s affidavit also noted that Beydoun “continually lied” to the MEDC about her spending, including forging a legal invoice and about the company’s progress, “so she could continue to collect her $550,000” per year salary.

Among the expenses are purchases from Home Goods and repeated trips to lavish restaurants, which the AG did not charge.

An arraignment date has not been set. The case has been assigned to Farmington Hills District Court Judge Marla E. Parker.

Beydoun’s attorney, Vincent Haisha, a partner with Flood Law, called the allegations “illogical.”

“For the last six months, our firm has attempted to demonstrate the illogical nature of the allegations against Ms. Beydoun to the Michigan Department of Attorney General," Haisha said. "Despite those efforts, it is evident that certain parties felt the need to further this very public spectacle in a way that is neither supported by the evidence that we have seen nor the investigative materials we possess. As always, we will save our best arguments for the courtroom and pursue every avenue available for our client.”

Investigation Begins

Beydoun, who served two terms as the Michigan Democratic Party's 1st Vice Chair, worked for the American Arab Chamber of Commerce and became its director in 2008.

In 2019, Beydoun was tasked with procuring a grant for the chamber, and around that time Whitmer also appointed her to the MEDC’s executive committee.

According to the Kolka affidavit, Beydoun began lobbying for the grant, which an Okemos entrepreneur claims Beydoun said was for a business incubator for Middle Eastern start-ups ready to open business in the United States.

The entrepreneur said Beydon indicated she personally approached Whitmer for the appropriation and she was advised to go through the MEDC.

The affidavit describes an interview with former MEDC director Trevor Pawl, who told investigators that Beydoun’s grant pitch was in “no way fundable,” and that she received the money for political reasons. He based that opinion on Beydoun telling him she had been “talking to the legislature and other folks” to secure the money.

An official with the Arab American Chamber told investigators that he believed Beydoun was procuring the grant for the chamber, but he learned after its approval in 2022 that Beydoun had the money go to her Farmington Hills address and that he would not be involved with Global Link because Beydoun said it would “not look right.”

The then-Republican-led legislature and Whitmer included a $20 million grant for Global Link in the $1 billion earmarks in the Fiscal Year 2022-23 budget, and Beydoun immediately submitted an application for the money and asked the MEDC if she could receive it in one lump sum, rather than the upfront 50% disbursement listed in the agreement and the statutory boilerplate language, according to the affidavit.

Beydoun subsequently became the target of an investigation after The Detroit News reported in April 2024 that she used $4,500 from the state grant on a coffee maker.

Whitmer then dropped Beydoun from the MEDC.

Nessel’s office served search warrants in June 2025 at the MEDC headquarters as well as Beydoun’s home, which was the listed business address for Global Link.

Nessel: Taxpayer Cash Pays Beydoun’s Personal Expenses

Kolka’s affidavit lists several expenses as allegedly fraudulent, including an $11,325 legal invoice that Nessel said is forged and was submitted to the MEDC as being grant-related, but the money was used for her personal legal services.

Nessel also alleges that Beydoun falsely presented to the MEDC that $40,800 was spent for a two-year lease on two fully furnished apartments to facilitate relocation for Global Link employees, but one so-called apartment was a vacant lot and the second was used by Beydoun’s son.

Nessel also alleges that a receipt, which her office had translated from French, showed Beydoun spent $6,000 on two rugs, but she told the MEDC the funds were to host an investor event abroad.

The affidavit provides a portion of an email from Beydoun to her son asking if he wanted an authentic Tunisian rug, which is a handwoven, 100% organic wool textile.

Nessel alleged Beydoun submitted two catering invoices — one for $1,870 and a second for $1,535 — to the MEDC in 2023 for focus group work related to Global Link, but the money was used for Beydoun to host two dinners associated with then-Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, who is now running as an Independent candidate for Governor.

Andrea Bitely, Duggan’s campaign spokesperson, said Duggan attended “two small dinners as a guest of Fay Beydoun, which were part of more than 100 small meet-and-greets hosted by Michiganders in homes and offices all across Michigan.”

Bitely added: “No money was raised, and the mayor had no further events with her. The mayor had no knowledge MEDC funds were used for the dinners. He accepted a host’s invitation to small meet-and-greets. Nothing more.”

Troubled Earmarks

Beydoun has provided political fundraising support to the governor in the past.

Before Beydoun took down her Facebook account this summer, she documented at least a half-dozen photos of herself with the governor at various events since 2019.

The House has since adopted rules prohibiting state awards to nonprofits that have been operating in Michigan for less than three years.

Beydoun is the second person charged in connection with alleged mishandling of earmarks legislators added to the state budget in 2022.

Former Wentworth aide David Coker was charged in May 2025 with embezzling part of a $25 million earmark for the Clare-based Complete Health Park project.

An Ingham County District Court judge is expected to rule this month on whether Coker will head to trial.

Reactions To The Beydoun Charges

Michigan Forward spokesperson Gabe Butzke said Beydoun is “finally facing some accountability for ripping off Michigan taxpayers.”

Butzke also criticized Whitmer and Messer, saying they “allowed this to happen, either through their negligence or complicity.” He said Whitmer has an “obligation” to tell taxpayers what she knew of the scheme before details were made public.

Rep. James DeSana (R-Carleton), one of many Republicans seeking to eliminate the MEDC, applauded Nessel’s charging decision, saying Beydoun’s situation is “one of the most egregious examples of government corruption in Michigan history.”