(The Center Square) – Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced Thursday that Fay Beydoun, a former member of the Michigan Economic Development Corp. executive committee, has been charged with 16 felonies tied to the alleged misuse of a $20 million state grant awarded to her nonprofit, Global Link International.
Beydoun, 62, is accused of using taxpayer funds intended for an Oakland County business accelerator for personal enrichment, according to the attorney general’s office.
The charges include one count of conducting a criminal enterprise, seven counts of uttering and publishing, one count of forgery, one count of larceny by conversion over $20,000, and six additional counts of larceny by conversion between $1,000 and $20,000. If convicted on all counts, Beydoun will likely spend the rest of her life in prison.
“Today, we allege Fay Beydoun sought and received a $20 million ‘Michigan enhancement grant’ from the state legislature, operated a criminal enterprise to use those funds for personal expenses and her own enrichment, and lied repeatedly when reporting how she used those funds,” Nessel said in a statement.
Nessel also criticized the process through which the grant was approved, calling it an example of “political cronyism with minimal oversight.”
According to investigators, Beydoun allegedly forged invoices, submitted misleading expense reports to the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, and used grant money for personal purchases including home decor, gardening supplies, catered dinners and legal expenses.
Among the allegations, prosecutors say Beydoun submitted a false invoice from a law firm to cover personal legal expenses, misrepresented a lease expense, and claimed more than $6,000 spent on handmade Tunisian rugs was related to an overseas investor event.
The attorney general’s office also alleges Beydoun used grant money to host dinners connected to then-Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan at her home and spent thousands on furniture and patio supplies.
The grant, approved through Public Act 166 of 2022, was intended to establish and operate a global business accelerator aimed at attracting international businesses to Michigan. Beydoun filed paperwork to incorporate Global Link International just days before securing the grant.
According to the attorney general’s office, no businesses ultimately relocated to the state through Global Link International’s efforts, while Beydoun maintained a $550,000 annual salary using grant funds.
The case is the latest development in a yearslong controversy surrounding the grant and the role of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, or MEDC.
Beydoun, a longtime supporter of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, served on the MEDC executive committee when the grant was awarded in 2022. Critics have long questioned whether political favoritism played a role in the funding approval, as previously reported on by The Center Square.
MEDC terminated Global Link International’s grant in March 2025 following reports of financial irregularities. In September 2025, the attorney general’s office froze more than $6.3 million in grant funds connected to Beydoun.
Since then though, Republicans have called for federal and state investigations into the funding Beydoun did receive.
State Rep. Jim DeSana, R-Carleton, praised the indictment, while renewing calls to dismantle MEDC.
“This is one of the most egregious examples of government corruption in Michigan history, and it’s well past time the people responsible were punished,” DeSana said in a statement.
DeSana argued the case demonstrates a lack of oversight within the MEDC and called for Democrat support for previous Republican-backed proposals to dismantle the agency.
“Our political process has become so broken and so focused on trading favors for personal gain, and this is the best example yet,” DeSana said. Far too many last-minute deals get slipped secretly into the state budget, and those secret backroom agreements come out of our pockets and our paychecks. It isn’t right. And that’s why I’m fighting so hard to stop this broken process and expose these bad deals.”
Nessel seconded some of those concerns.
“Since the enactment of the Global Link grant, some significant reforms have been enacted by the Legislature,” Nessel said. “These reforms are meaningful, but with millions of dollars in public funding at hand, the State and each of its agencies must do more to prevent abuses of state funds and to require responsible administration of enhancement grants—regardless of whether their recipients enjoy positions of power, privilege, and political connections.”
An arraignment date for has not been scheduled.
