Ex-Dem official charged with embezzling up to $100K from wealthy elderly woman

A prominent Democratic operative and former aide to Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has been hit with serious criminal charges, fueling GOP accusations of misconduct at the AG's office.

Belmont attorney Traci Kornak, a former treasurer of the Michigan Democratic Party, has been charged with two counts of embezzlement and one count of false pretenses stemming from her handling of finances for Rosalene Burd, an 86-year-old wealthy western Michigan woman who died in April 2025. Kornak served as Burd's conservator, The Detroit Free Press reported.

The charges carry hefty potential sentences: up to 15 years for embezzling between $50,000 and $100,000 from the vulnerable adult, and up to five years each for the other two felonies.

Kornak's arrest comes amid a firestorm over why Nessel's office quietly closed an investigation into the attorney in 2022 without taking action. A House Oversight Committee, led by Republican Jay DeBoyer, has been grilling officials over the decision.

DeBoyer wasted no time blasting the AG's office, declaring it either incompetent or corrupt for dropping the case. Nessel's spokeswoman pushed back, insisting the AG's probe was separate from subsequent investigations by other agencies examining different allegations.

Kornak, who served as Michigan Democratic Party treasurer from 2019 to 2025 and was on Nessel's transition team after her 2018 election victory, hasn't commented. No court date has been set.