Attorney General Heeds Requests for Investigation of Embattled Film Studio

The Attorney General's office stated that it is investigating the controversial Hangar 42 land deal.

John Sellek, the spokesman for the AG, said they generally don't divulge when they are investigating something but received many calls about the deal. The Attorney General's office had said Thursday they can't comment on whether they are involved in any investigation.

"It's caught our attention," Sellek said. "We got so many calls about it. We began looking at it early this week."

Hangar 42 is a Grand Rapids area land deal where a piece of property that couldn't sell for $9.8 million was sold to an investor for $40 million and that questionable sales price could have landed $10 million in "assignable" tax credits.

U.S. Representative Peter Hoekstra, R-Holland, and Patrick Wright, director of the Mackinac Center Legal Foundation, had called for an investigation into Hangar 42 within the last 48 hours.

"There was a series of unanswered questions and this is a $10 million deal," said Patrick Wright. "We felt this should be a priority. We are glad the Attorney General has recognized that this is a case worthy of scrutiny. We look forward to the results."

Hoekstra's press release states: "The story evolved this week when Representative Robert Dean's Chief of Staff was exposed on video tape bragging about his ability to make millions of dollars off of an unidentified movie studio project. "

Terry Stanton, spokesman for the Treasury Department, said Thursday he couldn't comment on whether there was an investigation because Hangar 42 involved private tax information.