Former Lee Chatfield staffers charged with embezzlement, conducting a criminal enterprise

LANSING — Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced Thursday charges against two former staffers for then-Michigan House Speaker Lee Chatfield, alleging the couple misappropriated funds from multiple entities, including social welfare nonprofits and campaign committees.

Facing criminal charges are Rob and Anne Minard who both worked in various capacities for the Levering Republican who served as House speaker in 2019 until the end of 2020 before leaving office due to term limits. During Chatfield's time as speaker, Rob Minard served as Chatfield's chief of staff while Anne Minard was director of external affairs for Chatfield.

Prosecutors allege the Minards financially exploited and defrauded entities "through a sophisticated pattern of improper reimbursements, double billing, misrepresenting expenses, and falsifying records," Nessel said during a press briefing. While they held influential posts in Lansing, Nessel said, the couple also "had access to a vast network of well-funded nonprofit, corporate and political groups" connected to Chatfield's political activities.

In the course of the investigation, Nessel said evidence was uncovered that the couple illegally enriched themselves. In total, the Minards allegedly obtained at least $525,000 illegally from 2018 through 2020, Nessel said.

The charges they face include conducting a criminal enterprise, embezzlement and filing a false tax return.

Gerald Gleeson, an attorney for Anne Minard, said he "looks forward to addressing the charges in the courtroom."

Rob Minard’s lawyer, Robert Harrison, was in the middle of reviewing a warrant that was emailed to him when he spoke to the Free Press. “But what I have read looks like they’re claiming that the things that anybody running a campaign would be doing and you practically could indict local, federal, whatever just substitute the names and there you have you,” Harrison said. He said he plans to enter a not-guilty plea on Rob Minard’s behalf.

The Attorney General's Office announced its investigation into Chatfield almost two years ago. In early 2022, law enforcement raided the Minards' Lansing-area home. Nessel said the investigation remains ongoing, indicated additional individuals remain under investigation, and said her office has not finalized all of its charging decisions.

"And that includes our review of any conduct involving former Speaker Chatfield," Nessel said.

Mary Chartier, Chatfield's lawyer, said in email Wednesday she was confident an objective review of the facts would not result in charges against her client.

Chatfield has been accused of sexual assault by his brother's wife and accused of an array of financial improprieties. Michigan State Police and unnamed federal agencies also participated in the investigation, according to statements and documents. Chartier said previously that Chatfield had a consensual affair with his sister-in-law but did not commit any crimes.

Nessel had said previously that her office aimed to make a charging decision regarding Chatfield by the end of this year, but said Thursday that it was not possible to entirely wrap up the probe before Dec. 31.

During the news briefing Thursday, Nessel criticized Michigan's campaign finance and political disclosure laws as weak and vulnerable to the kind of misconduct allegedly carried out by the Minards. "It is the weakness of these laws that has made it so easy for people with ties to our government representatives and big money donors alike to skirt the system for personal benefit while also skirting any legal responsibility for their bad behavior. And we allege that the Minards took full advantage of that," she said.

Nessel said the Minards appeared to assume that no one would ever review the financial improprieties they allegedly committed. Michigan residents "deserve better than what this flawed system has allowed," Nessel said.

While Nessel noted allegations of misspending of political funds have been leveled against Republicans, she said that may reflect GOP lawmakers' political power in Lansing for decades before Democrats flipped control of the Legislature. Without changes to the law, Nessel predicts wrongdoing by Democrats in the future.

Democratic state legislative leaders in a joint statement promised legislative changes in the wake of the charges. "Our new majority will continue in its mission of restoring trust between constituents and their elected leaders through transparency and ethics reform," said House Speaker Joe Tate, D-Detroit, and Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks, D-Grand Rapids. "We know that Attorney General Nessel and her team will leave no stone unturned in holding accountable those who flagrantly defied the law, and we will use the totality of the evidence revealed in this case to help inform future legislative action."

Lee Chatfield probe: Michigan AG Dana Nessel wants investigation records kept secret from public

Chatfield was a prolific fundraiser during his time in office. He raised record sums of money using four separate political action committees during his six-year tenure in the state Legislature, according to earlier reporting by Bridge Michigan and the Michigan Campaign Finance Network.

When Democratic lawmakers were in the minority in the state House last legislative session, they made repeated calls to set up a special committee to launch an internal review of Chatfield's time in Lansing. Toward the end of last year, then-House Speaker Jason Wentworth, R-Farwell, said his team tried to pursue a third-party investigation of Chatfield but was told by Nessel's office to hit pause.

Lee Chatfield investigation: Probe heats up as wife says sister-in-law is lying

Since Democrats took control of the lower chamber in January, they have yet to create any entity to review Chatfield's actions.

The Minards have each been charged with:

• One count of conducting a criminal enterprise, a 20-year felony.

• One count of conspiracy to conduct a criminal enterprise, a 20-year felony.

• Three counts of false pretenses — $1,000 or more but less than $20,000 — 5-year felonies.

• One count of false pretenses — more than $20,000 but less than $50,000 — a 15-year felony.

• One count of embezzlement — $100,000 or more — a 20-year felony.

• One count of filing a false tax return — a 5-year felony.

Anne Minard has been charged individually with:

• Two counts of embezzlement — $1,000 or more but less than $20,000 from a nonprofit or charitable organization — a 10-year felony.

• Two counts of false pretenses — $1,000 or more but less than $20,000 — each 5-year felonies.

And Rob Minard has been charged individually with one additional count of false pretenses — $1,000 or more but less than $20,000 — a 5-year felony.

The Minards' arraignment has been scheduled for Jan. 3 in 54-B District Court.

Contact Clara Hendrickson at chendrickson@freepress.com or 313-296-5743. Follow her on X, previously called Twitter, @clarajanehen.

Reach Dave Boucher at dboucher@freepress.com and on X, previously called Twitter, @Dave_Boucher1.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Ex-Michigan House staffers face criminal charges