EAST LANSING — Former Michigan House Speaker Lee Chatfield left court Friday still uncertain on whether or not his case will proceed to trial.
Prosecutors presented evidence this week they say showed Chatfield making numerous charges on his personal credit card, almost all of which were paid off by his political nonprofit, the Peninsula Fund.
The evidence was presented in a preliminary examination, a pre-trial hearing in which prosecutors must convince a judge that the case should go to trial.
A financial analyst working with the state testified Thursday that Chatfield charged more $153,000 to his card in a 15 month period, $152,000 of which was paid off by the fund.
Prosecutors also argued Chatfield wrote checks to family members from the fund, which they would then cash and return a portion of that money to Chatfield.
“This is essentially a shell game that is designed and directed by Lee to use PAC money, disguised as wages, to pay back an improper expense that was incurred on the Peninsula Fund’s account,” said Kahla Crino, an assistant attorney general with the state.
Chatfield’s defense team pushed back, saying the Peninsula Fund’s mismanagement should fall on the Dykema Law Firm, which kept records for the organization.
“If there was any notion of a check that should not have gone out, a payment that should not have gone out, it was their job to flag it,” said Mary Chartier, Chatfield’s attorney. “It was their job to research it and investigate it, and it was their job to disallow it.”
On Wednesday, Dykema senior compliance officer Renae Moore described some of the fund’s spending as ‘questionable,’ but said she was not aware of any duty to report potentially illegal transactions.
“Some days i would come into the office and I would have 15 different emails with credit card receipts or debit card receipts, and — just like a few little words, emails, sometimes there would be no words, just receipts emailed,” she said. “So it would — it was fast and furious at certain points."
The defense also argued that Chatfield had little involvement in the fund’s operations and that the state had not proven that Chatfield himself ever paid off the card’s balance.
Texts revealed at trial show Lee Chatfield and his wife Stephanie discussed paying off a credit card, while also referring to transactions that match some of those made by the card which was being paid off by the nonprofit.
“Both Lee and Stephanie would have been aware that they had not made a single payment on that Chase credit card out of their own money, starting in January 2020,” Crino said.
The judge could let the case proceed to trial, dismiss it entirely, or only allow specific charges to move forward.
Her ruling could come any day, but each party has 30 days for a requested legal submission, potentially kicking the decision well into April.