A major Michigan Democratic party donor is facing criminal charges for allegedly misusing millions of dollars in state funds.
Detroit News reporter Beth LeBlanc began reporting in 2023 on Fay Beydoun, her relationship with Democratic politicians and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, and her work eventually led to the investigation into Beydoun.
"We had been tracking a bunch of different grants within the budget because they were added to the budget really late in the process, a few hours before the vote, LeBlanc explained.
"They're very vaguely-worded, but the ones that we could figure out appeared to be benefiting like political contributors or politically-connected individuals or like hastily-formed nonprofits, but there was one there for $20 million that we couldn't figure out who it went to."
Eventually, LeBlanc and her colleagues identified the $20 million grant recipient as Beydoun who had created an international business accelerator called Global Link International. Beydoun had been a high-profile Democratic donor and fundraiser, working with politicians like Governor Gretchen Whitmer. The Governor also appointed her to the Michigan Economic Development Corporation's Executive Board. LeBlanc next dove into Global Link's financial statements.
"What we found was that there were some expenses that kind of, I guess, would raise eyebrows for the typical person wondering how their taxpayer dollars are being spent. There was a $4,500 coffee maker in the expenses. There was $11,000 first class ticket to Budapest," she said.
Beydoun and her attorney have justified the purchases as the price of doing business.
"I know in the past, in our conversations with Beydoun, or with her attorneys, or with different public relations firms that she's hired, there have been, you know, kind of defense of it, saying, like, this is how, if you're going to attract really big businesses, you need a really nice coffee maker to have meetings with people."
After a raid of MEDC offices last year, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel charged Beydoun last Thursday with 16 felonies related to the alleged misuse of state funds. Beydoun has denied the accusations, calling the charges politically-motivated.
LeBlanc has, herself, become a part of the story with her reporting cited in the charging documents, but she says there's still so much to uncover.
"It's a little surreal. It's a little strange to see that," LeBlanc said.
"While we've tried to really do serious work on this and uncover a lot, we've been, you know, trying to get over hurdles at every instance, because the people who made the decision to give the legislature that passed this bill, the governor who signed it, none of them are subject to FOIA."
Interview Highlights
On Fay Beydoun
Fay Beydoun is a pretty politically-connected individual in Metro Detroit. She's an Oakland County businesswoman. She was a fundraiser for Democratic candidates, in particular for Governor Gretchen Whitmer. She was an appointee of Whitmer's to the Michigan Economic Development Corporation Executive Board and to another state committee. And she's well-known in the community, well-known throughout the city. She was a Vice Chair within the Michigan Democratic Party.
On the basis for the charges
What we found was that there were some expenses that kind of, I guess, would raise eyebrows for the typical person wondering how their taxpayer dollars are being spent. There was a $4,500 coffee maker in the expenses. There was $11,000 first class ticket to Budapest. So, in April 2024, the Attorney General, after that reporting, started this investigation into Beydoun. She's been investigating for a couple of years. There were some fireworks last year when she raided the MEDC in relation to this investigation. And then last week, the Attorney General officially filed 16 charges against Fay Beydoun, and they all relate to the way that she spent this money.
On if this investigation will lead to reforms of the MEDC
If we can trust the promises being made on the campaign trail right now for Michigan's next governor, I think there would be changes. Almost all of the candidates about major changes, up to or including just getting rid of it all together. I would be interested to see if that actually plays out, because I think over the years, the MEDC has been kind of like a chess piece for different leaders to use in the name of economic development, and sometimes with really valid intentions of economic development.
Interview Transcript
Sophia Saliby: A major Michigan Democratic party donor is facing criminal charges for allegedly misusing millions of dollars in state funds.
Detroit News reporter Beth LeBlanc began reporting in 2023 on Fay Beydoun, her relationship with Democratic politicians and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, and her work eventually led to the investigation into Beydoun.
Beth joins me now to talk about the story. Thank you for being here.
Beth LeBlanc: Thanks for having me.
Saliby: So, tell me about Fay Beydoun. Who is she? And what's her relationship to some of these high profile Democrats in the state?
LeBlanc: Yeah, so Fay Beydoun is a pretty politically-connected individual in Metro Detroit. She's an Oakland County businesswoman. She was a fundraiser for Democratic candidates, in particular for Governor Gretchen Whitmer. She was an appointee of Whitmer's to the Michigan Economic Development Corporation Executive Board and to another state committee.
And she's well-known in the community, well-known throughout the city. She was a Vice Chair within the Michigan Democratic Party. She has a lot of connections to those different areas.
Saliby: And why did you first start looking into her in 2023?
LeBlanc: Yeah, so in 2023 about eight months after they passed the 2022 budget, we had been tracking a bunch of different grants within the budget because they were added to the budget really late in the process, a few hours before the vote. They're very vaguely-worded, but the ones that we could figure out appeared to be benefiting like political contributors or politically-connected individuals or like hastily-formed nonprofits, but there was one there for $20 million that we couldn't figure out who it went to.
So, we had to wait for some additional paperwork from the state. And in 2023, we got that additional paperwork, and it showed that it was going to a group called Global Link International. And when we looked up Global Link in the state business records, it was a nonprofit that was formed 10 or 11 days after the passage of the budget, so when it was actually awarded the funding through the legislature, it was not yet fully incorporated with the state. And so, that set off a little bit of a red flag. We started looking into who the CEO was. It was Fay Beydoun, and then we started asking questions about what this was for.
It was for an international business accelerator, so something to help international startups come into Michigan and get some grounding here. But it didn't have a track record because it wasn't even formed at the time that the budget passed. We couldn't get clear answers on why it was awarded to her. And of course, at that point too, we started seeing all of the political connections that Beydoun had within the Democratic Party.
Saliby: So, what is she accused of doing? What are these charges about?
LeBlanc: Yeah, so when we started looking into her in 2023 and into 2024, we were able to get some of her first receipts of what she spent this $20 million on. And what we found was that there were some expenses that kind of, I guess, would raise eyebrows for the typical person wondering how their taxpayer dollars are being spent. There was a $4,500 coffee maker in the expenses. There was $11,000 first class ticket to Budapest.
So, in April 2024, the Attorney General, after that reporting, started this investigation into Beydoun. She's been investigating for a couple of years. There were some fireworks last year when she raided the MEDC in relation to this investigation. And then last week, the Attorney General officially filed 16 charges against Fay Beydoun, and they all relate to the way that she spent this money. And there are instances, according to the Attorney General of her using it for, you know, a lease expense that led to a vacant lot, or for two Tunisian rugs that she picked up on a business trip, or for legal expenses that they said involved an allegedly forged legal invoice.
So, there are a lot of expenses that the AG is looking into. They said they're still looking into them, and this might not be the last of those charges, but it was a pretty strong indictment against this individual that came out last week.
Saliby: And Beydoun and her attorney are denying these allegations. What are they saying?
LeBlanc: Yeah, they're saying basically that they've worked with the Attorney General for some time and had been cooperating with her, and they've said these are politically-motivated charges, that this issue quickly became political, and that it's all stemming from that.
I know in the past, in our conversations with Beydoun, or with her attorneys, or with different public relations firms that that she's hired, there have been, you know, kind of defense of it, saying, like, this is how, if you're going to attract really big businesses, you need a really nice coffee maker to have meetings with people. Obviously, those excuses did not hold up with the Attorney General.
One of the strongest defenses we've heard so far is the same day Beydoun was charged, this nonprofit Global Link that she started, filed suit against the state and said, "You need to keep giving us this funding. You canceled it, but you have no proof that that these expenses are out of sync with what would be required of a business accelerator." So, there are a lot of competing legal arguments right now, in a lot of different cases.
Saliby: Your own reporting was cited in the charging documents. What is that experience like as a journalist?
LeBlanc: It's a little surreal. It's a little strange to see that. Yeah, I guess I don't know. It's a little bit humbling too, right? Because I feel like we've done a lot of work into this. I've done a lot of work into it over the past few years, and still, like, when these charging documents come out, there's still a lot that we don't know.
One of the chief culprits of that, A, is we don't have subpoena power, which I don't think is going to change anytime soon, but another factor is that the governor and the legislature aren't subject to FOIA and so like, while we've tried to really do serious work on this and uncover a lot, we've been, you know, trying to get over hurdles at every instance, because the people who made the decision to give the legislature that passed this bill, the governor who signed it, none of them are subject to FOIA.
And so, we've had to find other ways to get paperwork to corroborate what happened with this grant. And so, looking at the charging document, you know, it makes me realize too how much more information we could have if we would have had access to that information.
Saliby: There's been a lot of criticism into the Michigan Economic Development Corporation in this story, and in recent years, a lot of people saying there's not enough oversight over the money that goes into this semi-state-run entity.
Regardless of how these charges play out, do you think the MEDC will see reforms because of all of this?
LeBlanc: Well, if we can trust the promises being made on the campaign trail right now for Michigan's next governor, I think there would be changes. Almost all of the candidates about major changes, up to or including just getting rid of it all together. I would be interested to see if that actually plays out, because I think over the years, the MEDC has been kind of like a chess piece for different leaders to use in the name of economic development, and sometimes with really valid intentions of economic development.
But it also creates, like, just a very weird environment where public funds are being given to private corporations, and with that, comes a lot of lobbying of state officials by those private corporations as those dollars are going out. It is what we call a quasi-governmental branch. So, it's not quite a governmental unit. So, certain rules that would apply to certain government units don't apply to them. And so, I think one of the questions that needs to be reckoned with, that I don't think is fully being reckoned with during this political debate, is like, should the government be giving public dollars to private corporations?
And until they kind of reckon with that, I don't know that we're going to see real or meaningful reform there, because I think they have to figure out, like, if that is their intention, to give public funds to private corporations, there are a lot of complications that go with that, like private companies requiring NDAs of public officials or these private companies lobbying these public officials to secure these funds.
So, there's a lot of complications that go with that question that I think everybody has to really, really figure out before any meaningful reform is done.
Saliby: Beth LeBlanc is a reporter for The Detroit News. Thank you for joining us.
LeBlanc: Thanks for having me.
This conversation has been edited for clarity and conciseness.
