An appointee of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer who promised to wind down a shady $20 million grant funded by taxpayer dollars after media reports exposed questionable spending is doing exactly the opposite.
In April, The Detroit News exposed how Detroit businesswoman Fay Beydoun spent the first tranche of a $20 million grant awarded by the Legislature in 2022 to start Global Link International, a nonprofit business accelerator.
About $800,000 spent through December of the first $10 million tranche included expenses for a $4,500 coffeemaker, an $11,000 first-class plane ticket to Budapest, more than $40,000 in furniture, and $408,000 in salary for two people over three months. Other concerns arose from claims Beydoun initially pursued her grant on behalf of the American Arab Chamber of Commerce she headed, before steering the money to Global Link, a nonprofit that didn’t yet exist when the Legislature approved the funding in June 2022.
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Whitmer appointed Beydoun, a Democratic donor and former vice chair of the Michigan Democratic Party, to the Michigan Economic Development Corporation’s executive committee in 2019, a role she held until April 5.
Just over a month later, on May 15, Beydoun sent a letter to Whitmer vowing to “wind down” Global Link International amid public outrage and legislative scrutiny of the $20 million grant, one of nearly $1 billion in spending on pet projects in the 2022 budget.
The scrutiny, along with an FBI referral that forced Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel to launch an investigation, made it “challenging to impracticable” for Global Link to carry out its mission, Beydoun wrote in the letter cited by The News.
Lawmakers also briefly pursued budget language that would have forced Beydoun to return the grant funding, though that language was later discarded before lawmakers approved the 2025 budget this summer.
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“I am pragmatic to recognize that in order for G-Link to deliver on its mission, the State of Michigan must also desire our services,” Beydoun wrote. “As evidenced by recent legislative action, it does not.”
Beydoun continued: “To address this change in desire, I offer my and G-Link’s full cooperation to MEDC to: (1) timely respond to additional oversight procedures and inquiries about G-Link expenditure practices and policies due May 17, 2024, which we expect will be favorably received; and (2) mutually agree to account for organizational encumbrances and wind down the grant award and activities without delay upon the completion of the purported state and federal investigations,” the letter read.
But those investigations continue, and so has Beydoun’s spending, with Global Link expenditures increasing by $735,500 through September, according to public records obtained by The News.
The spending tops $2.5 million since October 2022, with about $1.2 million going to salaries, $52,000 on travel, $13,000 on meals, and $713,000 on legal and professional consultants, according to the news site.
MEDC spokeswoman Danielle Emerson told The News the agency was working with Global Link to wind down the $20 million grant through August, when it became apparent Beydoun was moving in the opposite direction.
“Those conversations occurred through August, at which point her attorneys told MEDC they no longer intended to ‘wind down’ the legislative grant,” Emerson said. “Given these circumstances, MEDC was put back in the position of only monitoring the legislative grant, and that is where we stand today. The MEDC will continue our due diligence in monitoring the expenses associated with this grant.”
An Aug. 12 email obtained by The News to Beydoun’s attorney, John Dakmak with the Detroit-based Clark Hill law firm, highlights MEDC Chief General Counsel Linda Asciutto’s frustration with the about face.
The email noted MEDC canceled an Aug. 14 meeting to discuss progress of “your client’s alleged implementation of the grant.”
“The purpose of the meeting was to try to amicably resolve the wind up of the grant, including your client’s return of millions of dollars of state funding as a show of good faith, while we worked out the final pieces,” Asciutto wrote. “It is unfortunate, and apparent, your client has no interest in doing either.”
Clark Hill has received more than $270,000 of the grant from Global Link, according to public records.
In Beydoun’s most recent Oct. 15 report to MEDC, she claimed Global Link is finalizing a strategic plan that focuses on recruiting business to Michigan from across the globe, with “48 startups in our database that will be applying to be vetted for our services.”
“Global Link has positioned itself to assist global start-up founders in aligning market strategies with product-market fit, support developing their customer base and revenue growth through key relationships, and to offer individualized support to start-up clients at every stage of their journey,” Beydoun wrote in the report cited by The News.
In the meantime, Nessel’s investigation presumably continues, though there’s been no progress updates. A similar 2022 state insurance fraud investigation into Michigan Democratic Party Treasurer Traci Kornak was closed without charges after Nessel intervened.
The whole situation is “frustrating” for Republican lawmakers like House Oversight Committee member Rep. Mike Harris, R-Waterford Township, who noted proposals to mandate a listing of grant sponsors, prohibit grants to businesses that do not yet exist, and to suspend funding during investigations have been ignored by the Democratic majority.
“I think this is a perfect example of why we need these measures,” Harris told The News. “And, unfortunately, none of this was taken into account early on. Looking to the future, I think we need to have something in place.”