By Paul Hamel
Nebraska Examiner
LINCOLN — A former employee in the Franklin County Treasurer’s Office is facing possible criminal charges for allegedly changing the title of a vehicle for her son’s girlfriend.
A recent state audit uncovered the 2022 incident in which Tammy Biesecker, then working as a clerk in the office, removed a lien and then issued a new, “clean” title, on a 2005 Jeep Cherokee owned by the girlfriend.
The action raised auditors’ suspicions initially because the girlfriend lived in Kearney, 50 miles north of the Franklin County Courthouse, and had licensed the vehicle in Buffalo County.
Nebraska State Auditor Mike Foley has issued a letter to the Franklin County Board detailing his concerns, which have been forwarded to a special prosecutor.
“Elected officials bear a special responsibility to be guardians of the public trust,” Foley said Monday. “What happened in Franklin County is simply disgusting.”
Biesecker was not immediately available by phone or email Monday to respond to a request for comment.
She was fired from her job a year ago, just before American Auto Exchange Inc. contacted the Franklin County Treasurer’s Office about the removal of its lien on the vehicle. The girlfriend still owed money on the Jeep, officials said.
According to state auditors, when Biesecker was confronted with the question of an improper title change, she produced a “lien release” letter from the auto company.
But the letter, auditors said, had several irregularities, including the lack of a date and an address for the vehicle owner and a “completely illegible signature,” coupled with no printed name or title for the lien holder’s representative. Biesecker also claimed the letter had been mailed, when it was clearly marked as “Sent from my iPhone.”
Auditors also alleged that Biesecker aided the girlfriend in evading sales taxes during a prior purchase of another automobile.
Franklin County Attorney Henry Schenker said Monday that he had appointed a special prosecutor in the case because of a conflict of interest. The appointed prosecutor, Kearney County Attorney Melodie Bellamy, declined to comment.