Nessel alleges former aide to ex-House Speaker embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars

Attorney General Dana Nessel on Thursday announced more details about the charges her office filed against a former aide to ex-House Speaker Jason Wentworth (R-Farwell).

David Coker Jr, 51, of Clare, was arraigned on seven charges Wednesday, including embezzlement and conducting a criminal enterprise.

The charges revolve around the use of a $25 million state appropriation that was given in 2022 to a non-profit Coker founded just one month before the budget was passed. The appropriation was earmarked by Wentworth, his former boss.

Nessel said it’s an example of an outdated appropriations system in Lansing that is “more about who you know than what your expertise is, or your experience, or your ability to carry out that project.”

Complete Health Park later entered into a contract with IW Consulting, another entity owned and operated by Coker, to oversee development of the health and recreation complex the grant was for.

In December 2022, Coker asked the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services to disburse $9.9 million in grant funds, including $820,000 categorized as “other expenses.”

The same day the state released the funds, Coker allegedly transferred the full $820,000 “other expenses” amount to his consulting firm, fulfilling two invoices he allegedly both authored and approved.

Investigators with Nessel’s office alleged that the funds overstated the value of services rendered, arguing it would be impossible to provide more than $800,000 worth of consulting in about two weeks.

Once the funds were transferred to his IW Consulting account, Nessel’s office said Coker then quickly began emptying the business account into his own personal accounts and using the funds to pay off personal debts and make large purchases, including four vehicles, more than 70 silver, gold and platinum bars, at least 50 rare coins “and a few literal silver bullets.”

“It is our allegation that Coker constructed this arrangement from the very onset to be financial agent of both entities and the representative of the grant recipient to the state agency grant administrator in order to acquire for himself what we allege to be significant stolen fund sums,” Nessel said.

About $3.5 million of the funds that the state paid out were used to purchase land owned by state Rep. Tom Kunse (R-Clare), which Nessel said may have exceeded the value of the property as no appraisal was completed before the purchase.

While Nessel said her office’s investigation did not establish criminal wrongdoing by either Wentworth or Kunse, she added that “none of it looks very good.”

Nessel said it’s very unlikely the project could have been completed with the initial $25 million.

“What would that mean to me? Likely that Mr. Coker would be going back to the state Legislature to request more earmarks, to request more money to complete this project,” Nessel said. “And who might have been one of those people that he would have asked to sponsor such an earmark? Possibly Rep. Kunse, who had just gotten paid $3.5 million for his property.”

“Now, is that illegal? No, it is not,” Nessel added. “Does it raise red flags? Is it ethically concerning? I would suggest yes.”

She said it’s an example of an outdated appropriations system in Lansing that is “more about who you know than what your expertise is, or your experience, or your ability to carry out that project.”

But she expressed optimism that recent changes will make the process more transparent, including a requirement that every legislative grant request include a named sponsor and that grant recipients are limited to public entities and nonprofits that have been properly registered for at least a year.

“It’s inexplicable to me that you would have some of these LLCs that seemingly just come into being days, weeks or a month prior to the appropriation being signed into law,” Nessel said. “To me, that’s pretty obvious in terms of, you know, you are putting together this company, this nonprofit, purely for the reason that you’re going to be receiving an earmark, as opposed to a long standing organization who’s done good work for many, many years.”

Nessel said the matter was referred to her office in August 2023 after Sen. Roger Hauck (R-Mt. Pleasant) expressed concerns to MDHHS about the way the project was being handled.

She said her office is “still actively investigating two other high-profile cases stemming from the old process,” a $20 million grant to Fay Beydoun for Global Link International, a nonprofit incorporated 10 days after the appropriation was passed, and a $2 million grant to Michigan Aerospace Manufacturers Association Executive Director Gavin Brown meant to study bringing commercial rocket launches to Michigan.