Surveillance photos from a Michigan First Credit Union camera on Wayne State University’s campus reveal the answer to a question that’s at the heart of a scandal that played out over the last seven months: Who paid for four Ypsilanti officials to travel to China for 12 days?
It’s worth noting that the idea of dropping a Chinese city in the middle of Ypsilanti was fairly ludicrous in the first place. At multiple levels — from funding it through the shady EB-5 Visa program to simply moving thousands of rich Chinese people into a working-class American city with no Chinese ties — International Village appeared to be unfeasible.
Ultimately, the project that officials trumpeted as the solution to the city’s deep financial struggles is now nothing more than an embarrassing spectacle for those who bought into Foster’s plan, pushed it over loud objections from residents, and ultimately wasted the city's time and resources over the course of a year.
The independent attorney’s investigation
Still, even as the project died in late 2017, no one knew who paid for the trip. In his 26-page timeline and six-page summary of the scandal, Plato filled in nearly all the gaps.
What follows is a summation of his timeline and synopsis. Segments in quotations have been pulled directly from Plato’s report and other segments are paraphrased.
May 2017
Plato notes that Edmonds knew early on that Foster owned Global Capital Group, a company that also was involved with developing International Village. Edmonds concedes in interviews that she received emails from Foster with a signature block showing Global Capital. That’s important because a student later tells Edmonds that Global Capital paid for the trip.
May 23
Council approves a letter of intent to sell the property to International Village LLC, and Foster suggests a trip to China. Plato writes that city manager Darwin McClary immediately found Foster’s offer of a trip inappropriate, which prompted him to seek an opinion from city attorney Barr.
May 24
Barr sends an email to city personnel and city council explaining that it is illegal and unethical for a developer to pay for the China trip.
June 22
“[Builder Spence Brothers’] Wayne Hofmann tells Ernat that he had ‘looked into all the entities’ associated with Amy Foster and did not find much on her, except unpaid credit card debt for $20,000 and a related action in the Oakland County Circuit Court, case no. 11-122906-CK.”
Aug. 4
"Foster transferred $20,000 from the International Village bank account to Global Capital Group. On this same day, she wrote to Ernat that she ‘got 4 visa with passport today, Monday will get one more.’"
This is notable because it shows the trip was being planned before a student group ever allegedly stepped forward to pay for it.
Around Aug. 21 to 23
“Edmonds and Ernat exchanged several text messages regarding the mayor’s [visa] and the dates the mayor was able to travel. At this time the mayor also exchanged text messages with Foster discussing the delay of receipt of the mayor’s passport and visa. These exchanges were all, of course, before anyone had come forward with an offer to pay for the trip.
“Shanrong Chou, owner of Young’s Travel, testified that Foster paid for the visas for the trip. According to Ms. Chou, the visas cost $180 per person. Because Foster did not want the visas to get lost in the mail, she picked them up from Youngs Travel and personally delivered them to Ms. Ernat, with the exception of the mayor’s which was delayed.”
Aug. 28
“According to Beth Ernat, around Aug. 28, she was contacted by Jinpeng Xue of the WSU CSSA asking her how many people were going to China and what the cost would be. Ernat claims Xue also asked for help in preparing the CSSA scholarship letter at this time.”
Sept. 6
However, it is revealed that Ernat drafted the scholarship letters herself, and Plato appears to catch Ernat lying under oath about who wrote the letters.
“On Sept. 6, Ernat sent an email to Foster and [International Village LLC associate] Hal Edwards, attaching a form scholarship award letter, which she drafted, to be used by whichever student group was ultimately going to fund this trip to China. Notably, Ernat did not produce this email or her draft scholarship letter to us or the city council as a part of this investigation. However, this Sept. 6 email and form letter from Ernat seriously calls into question Ernat’s testimony that she was working with Jinpeng Xue of the CSSA to draft this letter because Ernat’s draft letter nowhere mentions the WSU CSSA and was not sent to Jinpeng Xue, but only to Amy Foster and Hal Edwards."
"It also seems to contradict Ernat’s sworn testimony that she could not explain why she would have received the WSU CSSA’s scholarship letter through Foster and [builder] Wayne Hofmann, rather than directly and only from the CSSA.
"Ernat also sent a text message to the mayor to let her know that a 'U of M student union' was going to give the city scholarships for the trip. The mayor responded, asking how much and “where does that $$ come from?” Again, this written statement by Ernat calls into question Ernat’s testimony that she worked with Jinpeng Xue of the WSU CSSA to draft their offer letter beginning in August. As of this date, Sept. 6, Ernat apparently believed that the funds were coming from a University of Michigan group rather than the WSU CSSA.”
Also on Sept. 6
International Village issues a check to Youngs Travel, the travel agency that booked the flights, for $16,800. But Youngs owner Chou said under oath that Foster asked the travel agent not to deposit the Sept. 6 check, and wait for a second check. That’s because the second check would come from the CSSA. Chou tells Plato under oath that the $16,800 covered the flights, but not lodging or other expenses.
“Foster would not admit paying for the lodging directly, saying, ‘My son paid, not I.' However, she later conceded that International Village is a ‘family run’ business, although she claims her son does not get paid for his work.”
Sept. 7
Plato further explains how Ernat falsified “scholarship” letters, and how Edmonds should’ve known that the developer paid for the trip.
“Edmonds received an email from Ernat attaching the scholarship letter from WSU’s CSSA. Notably, Ernat received the scholarship letter through Wayne Hofmann of Spence Brothers, via an email that explained he received it from Foster. It would seem that this should have alerted both Edmonds and Ernat to an issue as to the origin of the funding.”
Plato then explains how Ernat lied under oath.
“Ernat explained that the CSSA was aware of Foster’s involvement with this trip and was in communication with her to understand the ‘cultural nature of the trip.’ Ernat testified she now sees how this email from Hoffman and Foster attaching the letter from the CSSA should have been a ‘red flag.’
"However, Ernat’s entire explanation of this issue is questionable as she failed to mention that she drafted the scholarship letter during either of her sworn interviews or her testimony before the city council.”
Sept. 8
Plato introduces Bingwen Wang, the person whose name is on the cashier’s check that is used to pay for the airfare. She’s a former student association treasurer who quit the organization in 2015. She gets roped into Foster’s scheme because even though she’s no longer the treasurer, her name is still on the CSSA’s debit card and bank account.
Student association members Peifeng Li and
After an initial call from Peifeng Li,
But neither show up at the credit union. Instead, Foster associate Jingming Liang, whom Bingwen Wang has never met, contacts her on the WeChat
Plato then explains how Liang deposited money in the student association’s account before returning 1.5 hours later to withdraw it with Bingwen Liang.
Plato also explains how he knows the money came from Foster’s two companies, International Village and Global Capital Group. Foolishly, Foster made it clear in the notations that she was cutting checks for the CSSA.
“The records received from Huntington Bank regarding the accounts for International Village LLC and Global Capital Group LLC demonstrate that the $16,800 cash deposited into the CSSA’s account on Sept. 8 came directly from International Village LLC.
“Amy Foster withdrew $1,500 from the International Village account on Sept. 7. Then, on Sept. 8, Foster wrote the following checks from the account: 1. One check for $8,888 made out to “Cash” with the notation “cover check # 8001 WSU-CSSA”. Exhibit HH. 2. One check for $6,200 made out to Jingming Liang with the notation “cover check #8001 WSU-CSSA”. Exhibit II. In addition to these clear references to the WSU CSSA on these checks, these transfers ($1500, $8888, and $6200) total $16,588.
"Therefore, there can be little question that the funds for the cash deposited into the CSSA’s bank account on Sept. 8, originated from Amy Foster and her International Village LLC.”
Later that day, Ernat gets a copy of the cashier’s check, and she asks no questions.
“Beth Ernat received a text message from the CSSA with a copy of the cashier’s check for the trip. Ernat does not know where the funds came from for the cashier’s check, does not know who Bingwen Wang is (although her name appears on the check) and did not question the fact that the check was a cashier’s check and not from a WSU CSSA account."
Sept. 9
Plato shows how Ernat attempted to deceive city manager McClary about who paid for the trip.
“Beth Ernat emailed [city manager McClary] explaining that she contacted a number of state and local agencies about funding for the trip, but that the WSU student group contacted her first, rather than city personnel reaching out to them.
“This fact should have raised suspicions as to how the CSSA learned of the trip and the need for funding.
“Ernat also forwarded an email from Spence Brothers to [McClary] that attached the WSU CSSA scholarship/invite letter. As she had in the past, Ernat deleted the note that the email had originally come from Foster before forwarding the message.”
Sept. 10
“Edmonds sent an email and a LinkedIn message to the CSSA asking where the funds for the trip ‘scholarships’ originated. Edmonds testified that she sent these emails not because she was concerned about where the funding had come from, but because she anticipated public scrutiny on the issue."
Sept. 11
Ernat informs
Sept. 12
"Peifeng Li replied to Edmonds’ LinkedIn message that the funding for the trip came from Global Capital Group, LLC, a group that Edmonds already knows is run by Foster."
The mayor would claim that she never saw the LinkedIn message before leaving for China, but Plato points out why that’s unlikely.
“Edmond’s testimony is questionable because on Sept. 13 she emailed Jennifer Healy, the city’s FOIA coordinator, indicating that no response had yet been received from the CSSA or Peifeng. However, Edmonds should have been searching for the response from the CSSA when gathering the documents to respond to the FOIA request.
"In any event, Edmonds should have been expecting and looking for a response to this inquiry before leaving for China on Sept. 21. On Sept.18 to 20, the city’s purchase agreement with International Village was approved and signed. Notably, the mayor testified that — just before this city council meeting — she learned … that CSSA groups often receive funds from the Chinese consulate.
"The mayor stated in her written response to the council’s questions that she ‘learned that they (the Chinese consulate) were funding the trip through (her) directly asking Foster and Hal Edwards from International Village on Sept. 19.
“However, Foster has testified that the Chinese consulate did not provide any funding for this China trip.”
February 2018
“According to emails produced by Foster and Foster’s testimony, Foster and Ernat met in February 2018 to discuss this investigation in preparation for a meeting with a Chinese investor who was coming into town.”
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