Staffers for ex-Speaker Chatfield back in court over alleged financial misconduct scheme

EAST LANSING — Anne and Rob Minard, who were key staffers for former Michigan House Speaker Lee Chatfield when he led House Republicans in 2019 and 2020, were back in court Thursday as state attorneys begin to lay out their case alleging the couple misappropriated funds tied to social welfare nonprofits and political campaign committees.

The Minards face multiple felony charges including embezzlement, conducting a criminal enterprise and intent to defraud under false pretenses. At a December news conference announcing the charges, Attorney General Dana Nessel said the couple illegally enriched themselves, allegedly obtaining at least $525,000 illicitly from 2018 through 2020. Nessel’s office is prosecuting the case, which is in Ingham County’s 54B District Court in East Lansing.

Prosecutors say Anne and Rob Minard orchestrated a scheme to enrich themselves through inflated reimbursement requests and misrepresented expenses.

Both Anne and Rob Minard have pleaded not guilty to all charges, through their attorneys. During Chatfield's time as speaker, Rob Minard served as his chief of staff while Anne Minard was his director of external affairs.

During Thursday’s preliminary examination hearing, Robert Menard, a special agent in the Attorney General’s office, testified as the first government witness. Menard, who compiled the affidavits used to file criminal charges against Anne and Rob Minard, recalled obtaining bank statements, receipts of credit card transactions and emails during an investigation. State prosecutors argue the items are evidence of inflated reimbursements.

Menard said investigators sought the financial records of both Anne and Rob Minard “to determine if there were illegitimate or illegal payments to and from nonprofits.” Along with bank accounts for Anne and Rob Minard, investigators also obtained and executed warrants to bank records for nonprofit organizations, including Lift Up Michigan and the Peninsula Fund, Menard testified. Lift Up Michigan was run by the Minards, according to prosecutors, and the Peninsula Fund was used to fund Chatfield’s political activities.

Affidavits previously filed by the Attorney General’s Office paint a picture of alleged repeated reimbursements to personal accounts belonging to Anne and Rob Minard for expenses that were actually paid for with funds from various nonprofits associated with Chatfield, a Republican from Levering.

Assistant Attorney General Bill Rollstin, during direct examination of Menard, brought up a series of reimbursements prosecutors say were requested by Anne and Rob Minard. The reimbursements covered costs for travel, meals, campaign materials and more, according to court filings submitted by prosecutors.

The actual costs, however, were covered by different organizations, including a slew of different nonprofits tied to Chatfield and vendors, prosecutors assert. Prosecutors also allege that Victor Strategies, a consulting firm launched in 2011 by Anne and Robert Minard, improperly collected reimbursements, receiving payments inflated beyond the actual costs the firm incurred.

In a memo filed ahead of Thursday’s hearing, Anne Minard’s attorney Gerald Gleeson argued state prosecutors lacked standing to charge her, citing a lack of evidence toward a criminal enterprise and alleging a Feb. 2022 search conducted at the Minard home of Anne Minard’s computer by investigators was done without enough probable cause to justify a warrant. In the filing, Gleeson wrote Anne Minard also wasn’t properly informed of her Miranda rights during the search.

Ingham County District Judge Molly Hennessey Greenwalt said Thursday that evidence obtained during the search of Anne Minard’s computer could be admitted, on the condition that she would make a future ruling on Gleeson’s assertion that the warrant wasn’t properly obtained.

Menard testified Thursday that state investigators also requested and obtained search warrants for years of bank and credit card statements for both Anne and Rob Minard, along with statements for accounts tied to their consulting firm Victor Strategies and political nonprofit organizations which have come under scrutiny in the probe.

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Menard remained on the stand when the court adjourned Thursday afternoon. The preliminary examinations are expected to continue through at least Friday. A preliminary examination is a hearing in criminal proceedings where a judge determines if there is enough evidence to send a case to trial. Ingham County District Judge Molly Hennessey Greenwalt is overseeing the case and will rule on whether to bind over Anne and Robert Minard for trial at some point following the preliminary hearing.

Unlike with a trial, there is no jury present for a preliminary examination. The standard of evidence is also lower in a preliminary examination — in a jury trial, prosecutors must prove the charge "beyond a reasonable doubt," while a judge at a preliminary examination has to determine whether there is probable cause to uphold charges.

The most serious charges faced by the Minards, conducting a criminal enterprise and conspiring to conduct a criminal enterprise, each carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, if convicted.

In a separate criminal case, Nessel’s office charged Chatfield in April with 13 embezzlement, conspiracy and larceny charges , alleging that he improperly used public funds and money raised through a nonprofit to pay for flights, meals and family vacations while he was in office. Chatfield’s wife, Stephanie, also faces a pair of felony charges of alleged embezzlement and conspiracy.

Both Lee and Stephanie Chatfield pleaded not guilty to all charges when they were arraigned in May . Preliminary examinations for Lee and Stephanie Chatfield are currently slated to take place in October, also in front of Hennessey Greenwalt.

A spokesperson for Nessel’s office said Thursday an investigation into Lee Chatfield’s financial conduct remains open and ongoing.

Michigan State Police first opened an investigation into Lee Chatfield in Jan. 2022 , after his sister-in-law accused him of sexual assault. Through his attorney, the former lawmaker said he had a consensual affair with his brother’s wife, but denied any criminal wrongdoing. Nessel’s office joined the investigation, which later expanded to probe potential financial misconduct.

In April, Nessel said the investigation into allegations of possible sexual assault was closed without charges.

The proceedings of both the Minards and Chatfields have highlighted weaknesses in Michigan’s campaign finance laws, Nessel has said. Both Nessel and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson have said Michigan lawmakers should strengthen the state’s anti-corruption laws.

— Contact Arpan Lobo: alobo@freepress.com .

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Staffers for ex-Speaker Chatfield back in court over alleged financial misconduct scheme