Ex-Michigan house speaker Lee Chatfield and wife are charged with embezzlement ... trends now
Prosecutors have charged the former leader of the Michigan House and his wife for a slew of financial crimes - alleging they milked political accounts for hundreds of thousands of dollars while the lawmaker was raising millions from his powerful post.
The investigation into Republican Lee Chatfield only began in 2022 when his sister-in-law Rebekah Chatfield publicly said he had sexually assaulted her.
He has denied the allegations and said they had a consensual affair. Investigators eventually expanded the case beyond those claims which uncovered these alleged financial crimes.
Attorney General Dana Nessel said there was insufficient evidence to charge Lee Chatfield based on Rebekah Chatfield's allegations, though she praised her courage in stepping forward.
'Were it not for her we likely wouldn't be here today,' the attorney general said.
Prosecutors charged the former leader of the Michigan House Lee Chatfield and his wife Stephanie with financial crimes, alleging they milked political accounts for over half a million dollars
Former Michigan House Speaker Lee Chatfield and his wife, Stephanie, face charges for financial crimes but the investigation initially focused on sexual abuse allegations against his sister-in-law
Former Michigan House Speaker Lee Chatfield and his wife face charges for financial crimes but the investigation initially focused sexual abuse allegations
Lee Chatfield misused various political funds, including his Peninsula Fund, which was not required to report the names of donors and served as an 'unregulated slush fund,' AG Nessel said.
The operation was a family affair, as wife Stephanie Chatfield monitored her husband's credit card balance and paid it off with cash from the Peninsula Fund, to the tune of $132,000 over a 14-month period, Nessel said.
Stephanie Chatfield has also been charged in connection with the corruption allegations.
The couple reportedly illegally made $525,000 in the years between 2018 and 2020.
Lee Chatfield's schemes 'aimed to embezzle, steal, and convert both private and public monies to fund a lavish lifestyle.'
In another example, Nessel said Lee Chatfield's brother cashed a $5,000 check from a political fund in 2020 and returned $3,500 to the lawmaker ahead of a vacation, Nessel said.
Lee Chatfield's various political funds took in more than $5 million over six years, including more than $2 million in 2020, which was his last year as speaker, the attorney general said.
'To call him, as many have, a prodigious fundraiser would not be an exaggeration,' Nessel said.
Prosecutors accuse Chatfield of misusing political funds for personal expenses, including $132,000 from a fund his wife managed
Lee Chatfield's schemes 'aimed to embezzle, steal, and convert both private and public monies to fund a lavish lifestyle' the Attorney General stated
The investigation into Lee Chatfield only began in 2022 when his sister-in-law Rebekah Chatfield publicly said he had sexually assaulted her when she was just 15-years-old
Rebekah has been particularly vocal about how she was a victim of abuse posting videos to TikTok and statements to Instagram
Lee Chatfield faces 13 charges, including conducting a criminal enterprise, which carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years, and
