Michigan Republican used campaign donations to fund $32,000 Bahamian vacation: prosecutors

Prosecutors in Michigan this week indicted former Michigan House Speaker Lee Chatfield on charges that he embezzled campaign donations for his personal benefit.

MLive reports that Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel this week accused Chatfield of using donors' money on a wide range of improper expenses, including "a $32,000 Bahamian vacation, luxury purchases, a family trip to Universal Studios in Florida, groceries and paying off a $132,000 credit card balance."

“Our investigation has uncovered evidence that Lee Chatfield used various different schemes to embezzle, steal and convert both private and public monies to fund a lavish lifestyle that a state salary could not possibly afford,” Nessel said in announcing the indictments.

Chatfield faces multiple charges, including embezzlement and running a criminal enterprise, and he could face decades in jail if he is found guilty.

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Attorney Mary Chartier, who is representing Chatfield, told MLive that her client will vigorously defend himself from the claims made by Nessel.

“It took almost two and a half years for the Attorney General’s Office to come up with charges against Mr. Chatfield regarding supposed financial offenses,” Chartier told MLive. “We are prepared to fight them each and every step of the way.”

On the plus side for Chatfield, Nessel also announced that her office was closing a years-long investigation into allegations that he molested a teenage girl on the grounds that "we cannot reach the appropriate proofs required as it relates to the allegations of sexual assault."

Chatfield had been accused of sexually abusing a girl when she was just 15 years old when she was a congregant at the Northern Michigan Baptist Bible Church, where Chatfield's father was a minister.

The investigation into the alleged assault did, however, turn up evidence of Chatfield's alleged abuse of campaign donations.