FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. — Fay Beydoun, the former head of a nonprofit that received $20 million in state money in 2022, went before a judge on Nov. 13 to answer three more felony counts tied to how that grant was spent, Attorney General Dana Nessel announced.
The arraignment took place in 47th District Court. Beydoun, 62, already faced 16 felony counts filed in May, including conducting a criminal enterprise, a charge that carries up to 20 years in prison. She has not yet gone to trial on those.
The new counts involve three alleged uses of grant money held by her nonprofit, Global Link International. Prosecutors say she moved $500,000 out of the group in July 2025 to cover her own legal defense, paid $100,000 in August 2023 for a membership in the Michigan Founders Fund for personal reasons, and in July 2023 spent more than $10,000 on high-end furniture that was never meant for the nonprofit.
Two of the added counts are larceny from a person, each punishable by up to 10 years. The third is larceny by conversion, a five-year felony.
Lawmakers tucked the money into the fiscal 2023 state budget as an enhancement grant meant to launch a business accelerator in Oakland County, with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation in charge of oversight. Beydoun was serving on that agency’s executive committee when the award was made. The state alleges no company ever relocated to Michigan through the nonprofit, while Beydoun paid herself $550,000 a year.
The attorney general began investigating in 2024. The economic development agency cut off the grant in March 2025. In September 2025 investigators locked down more than $6.3 million of the grant sitting in bank accounts tied to her.
Nessel, whose term ends this year, said the case will not reach trial before she leaves office but remains a priority for her Financial Crimes Division. Criminal charges are only allegations, and Beydoun is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
From the HERE City State Desk.
Section: More Lansing MI crime news
Filed under: Lansing MI Crime News
