FARMINGTON HILLS — Arab American businesswoman Fay Beydoun appeared Wednesday before the 47th District Court in Farmington Hills, where she was formally charged with 16 felony counts by the office of Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, including conducting a criminal enterprise, embezzlement and submitting fraudulent financial documents in connection with an alleged scheme involving a $20 million state grant.

During the hearing, the former executive director of the American Arab Chamber of Commerce entered a not guilty plea through her silence, which the court recorded as “not guilty”, before she was released on bond pending her next court appearance, scheduled for May 20.

The court granted Beydoun, 62, a $50,000 personal bond to be paid only if she fails to appear in court. She was also ordered to surrender her passport within 24 hours to prevent her from leaving the United States and to complete fingerprinting procedures before her next appearance before Judge Marla Parker.

Nessel announced earlier this week that Beydoun faces 16 felony charges tied to the alleged misuse of a $20 million state grant approved by the state legislature for Global Link International, an organization Beydoun founded while simultaneously serving as executive director of the American Arab Chamber of Commerce.

The grant awarded to Beydoun’s nonprofit was part of a broader $1 billion spending package included in Michigan’s 2022 state budget to fund 114 nonprofit organizations receiving special legislative sponsorship at a time when Republicans controlled the legislature.

Criminal charges and allegations

Beydoun has been charged with the following:

• One count of conducting a criminal enterprise, a 20-year felony
• Seven counts of uttering and publishing, a 14-year felony
• One count of forgery, a 14-year felony
• One count of larceny by conversion, more than $20,000, a 10-year felony
• Six counts of larceny by conversion, $1,000 to $20,000, a five-year felony

Nessel alleged that Beydoun operated a criminal enterprise designed to divert public grant funds toward personal expenses and personal enrichment while repeatedly misleading the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) regarding the use of taxpayer money.

“The process by which this grant was proposed, awarded and administered bears almost no resemblance to traditional grant-making procedures,” Nessel said in a statement released by her office. “It was only possible through a system combining political favoritism with weak oversight.”

According to prosecutors, Beydoun received the 2022 Michigan Enhancement Grant to establish an organization aimed at attracting global talent and businesses to Michigan under MEDC oversight, while she simultaneously held an advisory role connected to the agency.

Investigators alleged that despite the public purpose of the grant, Global Link International failed to bring business investment into Michigan and instead became a vehicle for personal financial gain, including a reported annual salary of $550,000 paid to Beydoun.

The attorney general’s office further alleged that Beydoun forged a law firm invoice and submitted it to the MEDC to conceal personal legal expenses paid using grant funds. Prosecutors also accused her of falsely describing a $40,800 lease agreement and submitting a French-language receipt for two handmade Tunisian rugs costing more than $6,000 while claiming they were used for hosting foreign investors abroad.

Investigators additionally alleged that Beydoun falsely reported meal expenses from two 2023 events as organizational functions for Global Link International when, according to prosecutors, the dinners were actually hosted at her private residence for former Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan.

The charges also accuse Beydoun of using grant funds for personal purchases, including more than $5,000 in home furnishings and décor from Royce Lighting and approximately $1,400 in gardening supplies from Ace Hardware. Prosecutors said she submitted false reports intended to prevent the suspension of grant funding and ensure the continuation of her salary payments.

Investigation and frozen assets

Michigan authorities formally opened an investigation into the legislative grant awarded to Global Link International in 2024. The investigation later prompted the MEDC to suspend the grant on March 18, 2025, after Beydoun’s organization had already received $10 million of the total $20 million allocation.

The suspension followed reports alleging financial irregularities. In September, the attorney general’s office froze more than $6.3 million in grant funds held in bank accounts linked to Beydoun.

While Beydoun declined to answer reporters’ questions outside her Farmington Hills residence Wednesday, her attorney, Vincent Haisha, strongly criticized the prosecution’s case.

“For the last six months, our firm has attempted to demonstrate the illogical nature of the allegations against Ms. Beydoun to the Michigan Department of Attorney General,” Haisha said. “Despite those efforts, it is evident that certain parties felt the need to further this very public spectacle in a way that is neither supported by the evidence that we have seen nor the investigative materials we possess. As always, we will save our best arguments for the courtroom and pursue every avenue available for our client.”

Investigative reports raised questions

The state investigation followed a series of investigative reports by the Detroit News revealing that the nonprofit organization receiving the grant had not been formally registered until after Michigan’s 2022 state budget had already been approved.

Although Global Link International was not officially registered with the state when it received the grant — and was incorporated in Oakland County shortly afterward — public records showed Beydoun spent approximately $408,000 on employee salaries during the first three months after receiving the initial $10 million payment. Investigators later alleged that the “employees” consisted only of Beydoun herself and one additional staff member.

Other reported expenditures included approximately $11,000 in taxpayer-funded travel expenses for Beydoun to attend a conference in Budapest, $4,500 for an espresso machine, $100,000 to sponsor “Michigan Tech Week” and roughly $130,000 in legal and consulting fees during the organization’s first nine months of operation.

Records also indicated Beydoun allocated herself a $550,000 annual salary and spent approximately $40,000 on furniture purchases, some of which was reportedly shipped to her Farmington Hills residence while the remainder was delivered to an address in Birmingham intended to serve as the nonprofit’s headquarters.

Beydoun was appointed by Governor Whitmer in 2019 to both the U.S.-Middle East Relations Commission and an advisory role with the MEDC, the agency responsible for overseeing and distributing millions of dollars in state grants and incentives annually.

When Beydoun received the first installment of the grant, she was still serving as executive director of the American Arab Chamber of Commerce. Officials from the chamber later stated that the funding was originally expected to benefit the chamber itself, but Beydoun instead established her own nonprofit organization to secure the grant independently before leaving the chamber to run Global Link International from her Farmington Hills home address.