Michigan resident seeks bribery probe over allegations involving Gotion executives, local board

A Michigan resident sent a complaint Monday to state and federal authorities urging an investigation into the alleged conflicts of interest between former Green Charter Township officials and Gotion battery company executives detailed in court documents and previously reported by Just the News. 

The letter, obtained exclusively by Just the News, is the latest act in a citizen-led effort to scrutinize and reverse a controversial battery plant deal that would see the China-linked Gotion build an electric battery plant in western Michigan.

Sent to the FBI’s Detroit office, the local U.S. Attorney, the Michigan attorney general and State Police, the letter from an anonymous state resident suggested the allegations – recently detailed in the court filings, which include an undisclosed property purchase, offers of a free trip to China, and campaign contributions – may rise to the level of bribery under federal and state law. 

“I am writing to you about recent court filings in the Gotion, Inc. v Green Charter Township in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan that appear to reveal engagements by” a Gotion executive and at least three former township board trustees "that may violate both federal and state statutes prohibiting the offering and acceptance of a bribe or gratuity,” the citizen wrote. The letter shared with Just the News by the Michigan-China Economic and Security Review Group which is working to inform and educate local residents about the proposed deal with Gotion. 

You can read the letter below:

“The ‘deal’ with PRC-based and CCP-tied Gotion led by Governor Gretchen Whitmer, The Michigan Economic Development Corporation, The Right Place, and Ferris State University, some in the Michigan Legislature, and others in local government has been corrupted from the outset,” MCESRG Director and former Ambassador Joseph Cella said in a statement. 

“This letter gives voice to the voiceless citizens who have always known this ‘deal’ was corrupted, and are righteous in wanting to hold actors involved with this ‘deal’ accountable. Their leadership has had a massive impact. They began restoring the consent of the governed by recalling and defeating certain elected officials,” he continued, referencing a successful effort to oust the old Green Charter Township board over its support for the CCP-tied Gotion’s plant. 

“They continue their important work by asking federal and state law enforcement to investigate potential bribery, public corruption and conflicts of interest, based on recent filings in the lawsuit by PRC-based and CCP-tied Gotion against Green Charter Township,” Cella said.

After locals ousted the old board, the new trustees immediately moved reverse the plans to facilitate Gotion’s build and electric vehicle battery plant in the community over concerns the company's ties with Communist China posed security risks. The new board’s efforts, Gotion claims, violate a Development Agreement signed between it and the township last year. As a result, Gotion sued the township. 

Last week, Just the News reported on the new revelations in a round of court filings by the new township board that detailed allegations of conflicts of interest between the former board trustees and Gotion. 

Citing text messages and testimony uncovered and now part of the lawsuit, the township argues the development agreement with Gotion is void, in part, because of these conflicts of interest from former board members that were undisclosed when the agreement was supposedly approved. The court filings show that at least two former board members stood to receive financial benefits from Gotion while it was seeking approval for its project.

According to text messages attached to the filing last Friday, a senior Gotion executive offered Jim Chapman, the then-supervisor of Green Charter Township, a trip to Hefei, China. Another former board trustee stood to benefit financially from the sale of land to Gotion for the plant and failed to disclose that conflict when he voted to approve the preliminary development agreement with the company, Just the News reported. 

Chapman, however, disputed the allegations contained in the lawsuit, but did not challenge the facts, in a statement to Just the News. "I have never accepted any enticement of any kind from Gotion or any other group. Gotion considered a trip to see their plant for a group of local people. I was on the list but chose not to go. The trip never happened," Chapman told Just the News in an email after publication. 

The Gotion battery plant deal came under scrutiny from locals almost immediately after it was announced publicly in September 2022. Locals were worried for several reasons, including the environmental impacts and disruption to their community. But one of the most important and controversial reasons was Gotion’s ties to China, and specifically the Chinese Communist Party. 

Despite previous claims to the contrary by company executives, Gotion recently admitted in a Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) filing that the company is “partially subsidized through government funding supplied by the People's Republic of China.” Previous reports show that Gotion is wholly owned by its parent company, Gotion High-tech Co., which participated in programs designed to acquire military technology for China and employs at least 923 Chinese Communist Party members.

The Gotion plant also raised security concerns because of its location. The proposed battery plant site is within 100 miles of Camp Grayling, one of the largest National Guard training camps in the country. The Wall Street Journal reported that the Guard trains Taiwanese soldiers at the camp.