MACOMB COUNTY, Mich. – The Michigan State Police has confirmed that it has been called upon by the Michigan Attorney General's Office to investigate the forfeiture funds run out of Macomb County prosecutor Eric Smith's office.
Watch the video above for the full report.
Those funds have never had county public oversight and have become the center of a very public feud between Smith and Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel. Hackel requested that the attorney general investigate.
Asset forfeiture monies have to be used in specific and targeted ways, either in assisting the prosecution or solving crimes, which is why, after GOP activist Jared Maynard sued to force Smith to turn these checks over, eyebrows were raised.
Smith has been writing checks for thousands of dollars to local police departments, which is a permissible way to use the funds -- but there are also hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of checks to Visa and American Express, with no notation as to what they're for.
Smith maintains that everything he's done has been proper, but now he's facing a Michigan State Police investigation into his use of the funds. The county board of commissioners has called for a seven-year forensic audit.