Jordan Wilcox
Assistant Publisher
Former Clare Area Chamber Director, Clare County Republican Party Chair, and Michigan Legislative Aide, 51-year-old David Wayne Coker Jr. of Clare, has been charged with multiple counts of embezzlement and running a criminal enterprise. The state alleges that Coker used state money intended for a health and fitness center in Clare to buy gold coins, bars, silver and platinum, vehicles, and firearm accessories.
Coker has been under investigation by state agencies for roughly two years due to his involvement with the Clare Health Park Scandal.
In 2022, Coker founded the Complete Health Park nonprofit organization, intending to construct a new comprehensive healthcare complex in Clare. The complex was set to contain facilities for mental, physical, behavioral, rehabilitation, optical, dental, primary, urgent, chiropractic, pediatric, and cardio health. MyMichigan Health was also slated to build a new hospital on the premises, but they’ve since denied any involvement with the project.
Later in the year, the nonprofit purchased $3.5 million worth of land from the family of current State Representative Tom Kunse and secured a $25 million no-bid grant written into the state budget by his former boss and then-House Speaker, Jason Wentworth.
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General began investigating the $25 million grant in March 2023 because of possible double payments involving the nonprofit. The case was later turned over to the Michigan Department of Attorney General.
The state alleges that after receiving the first $9.9 million allocation of the $25 million grant, Coker “immediately” wired more than $820,000 from the Complete Health Park nonprofit to his consulting firm, IW Consulting, and transferred “hundreds of thousands” of dollars into his personal bank accounts. They also claim that Coker failed to disclose that he ran IW Consulting and fraudulently submitted invoices “knowing he did not and could not have performed” $820,000 of consulting work so quickly.”
On Monday, May 12th, AG Dana Nessel’s office filed multiple felony charges against Coker in Lansing’s 54A District Court. According to a complaint read in court, he is accused of “defrauding” the state and “enriching himself” by using some of the grant money to purchase “vehicles, firearm accessories, and precious metals. “
Two days later, on Wednesday morning, law enforcement officers arrived at Coker’s residence to fulfill search and arrest warrants that were issued for him. He was quickly taken into police custody and transported down to the Ingham County Jail. There, he was arraigned by video by District Court Judge Kristen D. Simmons around 1:30 pm.
In a statement to Bridge Michigan, Coker’s defense attorney, Josh Blanchard, says he “absolutely” plans to fight the charges. “David Coker is not hiding from the truth. We’ve been above board every step of the way. It is the attorney general who must now answer for her tactics and the message it sends to every Michigander trying to do something good in a broken system.”
He also added that Coker “worked tirelessly to bring transformative change” to the area. His vision for the health park was “a bold one — aimed at addressing the systemic issues of public health that have plagued the region for decades.”
Coker is charged with making false pretenses, violating the state’s safekeeping of public moneys law, acquiring or maintaining a criminal enterprise, and three counts of embezzlement of $100,000 or more — a felony charge punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
The AG says that if convicted, Coker would be forced to forfeit dozens of assets he allegedly purchased with the grant money, including “a 2023 Honda ORV, a 2024 Chevy Trax, over 70 silver, gold, and platinum bars, eagles, and rounds, at least 50 rare coins, a few literal silver bullets, and several firearm scopes and sights.”
He currently remains lodged in the Ingham County Jail with a $100,000 personal recognizance bond. He is due back in court for a probable cause conference on May 23rd and a preliminary exam on May 30th.
Both Representative Kunse and former Speaker Wentworth have been cleared of wrongdoing and will not face criminal charges.
Anthony Demasi, who worked with Coker as a consultant and helped him obtain the grant, was convicted last year in a separate federal fraud case. Coker personally approved a $150,000 payment from his nonprofit to Demasi’s Beta Sole Foundation on December 19, 2022 — the same date the state alleges the first of Coker’s crimes occurred.
Court documents reveal that Demasi is now cooperating with the AG’s investigation into the Health Park.
