Report: Rep. allowed to keep grants despite conflicting applications

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Michigan Rep. Kristian Grant, D-Grand Rapids, was allowed to keep $15,000 in COVID-19 funds for small businesses even though officials later found conflicting information in her applications, The Detroit News reports.

Grant created seven new businesses during the pandemic and received two small business grants in 2020 from Kent County for a total of $15,000, according to a Saturday report from The Detroit News.

But in January of 2023, Kent County officials wrote to Grant about contradictory information in her two applications, the report says. In one application, she said that a planner business had nearly $4,300 in sales in December 2019; in another application for a different business, her tax filings showed the same planner business had just $205 in sales for the entire year of 2019, according to the report. Grant was asked for an explanation.

The Detroit News reports that in May 2023, Grant said she had revised her 2019 tax filings to show more sales that year.

Kent County let Grant keep the money, according to the report.

Grant told The Detroit News it was an accounting mistake, writing that some products were preordered in late 2019 but delivered in early 2020.

Robert Womack, previously the Kent County commissioner, said that Grant was shown favoritism and the money should be returned, The Detroit News reports. Womack campaigned against Grant in 2022.

Kent County’s main lawyer said the county had taken the situation seriously and commissioned an outside review, according to the report.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WOODTV.com.