Ex-Aide to Michigan Lawmaker Faces Embezzlement Charges

David Coker

"A former aide to a powerful Michigan lawmaker faces charges of allegedly embezzling state money intended for a health and fitness center in Clare to purchase gold coins, gold bars, silver, platinum, vehicles, and firearm accessories, Bridge Michigan reports."

Jonathan Oosting of Bridge Michigan reports:

David Coker, 51, of Clare had been under investigation for roughly two years after creating a nonprofit that secured a $25 million no-bid grant written into a state budget by his former boss, then-House Speaker Jason Wentworth...

The state alleges that Coker, after receiving the first $9.9 million allocation of the $25 million grant,  "immediately" wired more than $820,000 from the Complete Health Park nonprofit he had created during the state budget process to his consulting firm, IW Consulting.

He then allegedly transferred "hundreds of thousands" of dollars into his personal bank accounts. Coker failed to disclose that he ran IW Consulting and submitted invoices "knowing he did not and could not have performed" $820,000 of consulting work so quickly, according to the complaint.