LANSING (AP) — Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said Friday that she is “deeply concerned” that a former campaign worker allegedly tried to use his political ties to extort the owner of a car rental company that drew scrutiny from her office.

Nessel’s spokeswoman issued a lengthy statement in response to a lawsuit filed Wednesday in Detroit federal court against Dimitriy Movsesyan, who worked on her campaign as an IT consultant.

He is accused by Executive Car Rental and its founder, Maher Waad, of demanding $9,500, enlisting Ukrainian backers to take over some of the company’s internet accounts and suggesting he could influence Nessel’s probe of consumer complaints.

“We are deeply concerned that Movsesyan apparently tried to use his brief encounters with AG Nessel to persuade Executive Car Rental (ECR) that he could have any impact on the Department’s investigation of the company,” said Nessel spokeswoman Kelli Rossman-McKinney.

The spokeswoman added that Nessel, a Democrat, has not seen Movsesyan since she was elected last year, nor has she talked with him about “any matter” the department is handling.

The suit alleges Movsesyan began sending text messages to Waad in February, about two weeks after Nessel publicly announced her intention to take action against ECR due to complaints about un-refunded deposits and other issues. In later texts, Movsesyan — seeking work — said he could “help,” showed a photo of himself with Nessel and noted he planned to meet with her.