Vanessa Niekamp, who serves as a Pickerington School Board Member and Violet Township Fiscal Officer, was charged with a first-degree misdemeanor of “Tampering with Records” related to a fraudulent 2022 audit report submitted on behalf of the Pickerington Food Pantry, where she is executive director.
Aug. 12, 2025
By Rachel Scofield
On Aug. 8, Vanessa Niekamp, Violet Township Fiscal Officer and longstanding Pickerington School Board Member, was formally charged in Fairfield County Common Pleas Court with “Tampering with Records”. She is expected to plead guilty at a hearing scheduled for Sept. 19 at 11 a.m.. Her bond has been set at $5,000.
The Allegations
The charge refers to an incident in July 2023 in which Niekamp allegedly submitted a fraudulent 2022 audit report when applying for a $50,000 grant from the United Way of Fairfield County (UWFC) on behalf of the Pickerington Food Pantry where she serves as executive director.
As UWFC Director of Finance Sky Gettys processed the application, he discovered that a few pages had been overlooked, so he contacted CPA John Siebert asking for the missing forms. When Siebert denied compiling the audit for the food pantry, Gettys emailed Siebert the pages that Niekamp provided which appeared to be printed on an older version of “Siebert & Associates, CPAs” letterhead and included a copy of Siebert’s signature.
Siebert brought the documents to the Pickerington Police and filed a report stating, “as neither John Siebert nor Siebert & Associates, CPAs, provided any audits to the Pickerington Food Pantry after June 30, 2020, it is clear that Vanessa Niekamp, who emailed the audit to United Way, falsified the 2022 audit to the United Way.”
Pickerington Police Detective Tom Spreen led a detailed, nearly two-year investigation involving extensive financial record reviews and cooperation with the Ohio Attorney General’s Forensic Accounting Unit.
Police Chief Tod Cheney praised Spreen’s work stating, “Investigations that include close examination of a large numbers of financial records take time. We were also working in conjunction with the Attorney General’s Office forensic accounting unit. We therefore have to work within their timetables.”
As far as the charges are concerned, Cheney said, “a plea deal was reached between the special prosecutor and Mrs. Niekamp resulting in a charge of Section 2913.42 | Tampering with records, which is a misdemeanor of the first degree. Although I agree that criminal offenses were committed and a plea agreement will support that, neither Det. Spreen, his Investigative Division Commander, or I agreed with this particular plea deal. Numerous felony charges related to forgery, theft by deception, and tampering were recommended by our agency, and I believe several felony indictments would have been made by a grand jury had the case been presented. We fully support the victim, Mr. Seibert, in this case and believe felony charges were warranted based on the evidence. Any inquiries as to why this decision was made should be directed to the Delaware County Prosecutor’s office.
Attorney Christopher Tackett, representing CPA John Siebert, also criticized the plea deal as insufficient, “We disagree with the Prosecutor’s office’s decision to offer a plea deal involving only a misdemeanor count given the forensic evidence supporting that Vanessa falsified the audit document and made numerous false statements about doing so. It seems as if the Prosecutor’s office did not adequately consider the long coverup by Vanessa.”
The Fairfield County Prosecutor, Kyle Witt, deferred the case to the Delaware County Prosecutor’s Office to avoid any potential conflict of interest. Since Witt’s office also represents Violet Township — where Niekamp serves as Fiscal Officer. Delaware County Prosecutor Melissa Schiffel accepted the case to maintain this ethical separation.
Schiffel served in the Fairfield County Prosecutors office from 2011-2013 where she became Chief Prosecutor of the Criminal Division. Her current office stated that “to the best of her knowledge” she had not been acquainted with Niekamp during her tenure in Fairfield County.
Schiffel and her office have maintained confidentiality regarding the details and reasoning behind the plea agreement, adhering to standard protocol in ongoing cases. Niekamp’s attorney Kaitlyn C. Stephens and Cheney declined to answer specifics for the same legal reasons.
“Once the final plea deal is made on the 19th,” Cheney said. “Then our entire report will be made public record – including all evidence collected.”
Third-party Audit
“When these allegations originally surfaced, the Board determined it wanted to separately confirm the food pantry was in the possession of a set of accurate financial information,” said Rick Ricketts, the Food Pantry’s legal counsel. “The board wished to further confirm that no monies of the food pantry had been misappropriated.”
As such, the board engaged the independent third-party accounting firm, HHH CPA Group, to perform a full audit of the books and records for the fiscal year in question (2022) and the following fiscal year (2023).
HHH submitted the completed audits to the board on Sept. 29, 2023. The board subsequently forwarded the report and related communications to the Pickerington Police and the Ohio Attorney General’s office.
The audit report confirms the financial health of the food pantry is not in question, nor is there evidence of any misappropriation of funds,” Ricketts said.
Furthermore, Ricketts asserts that the report confirms that the financial information entered into the pantry’s accounting system by Niekamp was accurate.
Food Pantry’s Statement
The pantry placed Niekamp on administrative leave.
“To date, she has cooperated in turning over and providing information to facilitate the Board’s efforts (as they can best do) to operate the Food Pantry in her absence,” Ricketts said.
The Food Pantry has retained legal counsel skilled in labor and employment law to provide the Board with direction as to the proper handling of Mrs. Niekamp’s leave of absence.
“As of the time of this e-mail the Food Pantry’s counsel has not been provided with information that confirms or denies whether Ms. Niekamp will be defending the claims, pleading “no contest” to the claims and/or agreeing to some type of an agreement with respect to the claims,” Ricketts said.
This coming weekend, the Board will be meeting to discuss these and other business matters, and assess, based on the information available to it and advice of counsel, whether it is in a position to formally take actions at this time.
“The Board’s primary efforts at this time remain focused on providing continued assistance to the individuals it serves,” Ricketts said. “Regardless of what transpired in respect of the charges, the Board will act professionally and
responsibly to promptly take the actions necessary to safeguard the best interests of the pantry
and its mission.”
School Board President’s Statement
Pickerington School Board President Clay Lopez issued the following statement, “The Pickerington School Board is aware that Vanessa Niekamp was recently charged with a criminal misdemeanor. It is our understanding the charge stems from matters not related to the business of the Pickerington School District or Ms. Niekamp’s role as a Board of Education member.
Several of us have been asked what the School Board intends to do to address this matter. Understand that board of education members are not employees of the school district. This means our school board lacks the authority to unilaterally remove or suspend a board member from their service on the school board. Further, we have been apprised that the misdemeanor criminal charge filed against Ms. Niekamp is not an offense that would statutorily disqualify her from service on the Board, even if she pled guilty to or is convicted of the offense. As such, our ability under the law to address this matter is limited.
All Board members are bound by the code of ethics found in Policy 0123 – Code of Ethics/Code of Conduct. Should the Board find Ms. Niekamp violated this code, we may address her conduct through a formal Resolution of Censure.”
Olshefski Demands Niekamp Resign
At an Aug. 11, school board meeting, member Cathy Olshefski publicly called for Niekamp’s immediate resignation.
“Elected leaders are unique in their roles. In my opinion, they exist first and foremost to represent and serve the people who elect them … but also to make decisions that protect and elevate the people who elect them.
In the school board world, the highest priority for the five of us is to serve our students, our staff, and the district as a whole. Sometimes the decisions we make do not sit well with individual community members … but we are charged with making and explaining those hard decisions because they are in the best interest of our students.
Elected leaders should lead by example. They should be held to a higher standard than others. They should be others-focused and not self-centered. And when the actions of the elected leader get in the way of both the work this individual was elected to do and the organization this individual was elected to lead and serve … that individual should place the organization first … and step aside.
Vanessa Niekamp is currently embroiled in litigation that … while it does not directly involve Pickerington Schools … it does affect her ability to fulfill her leadership role and responsibilities within Pickerington Schools.
To lead by example. To be held to a higher standard. To put others first. Therefore, I believe the right and proper decision for Mrs. Niekamp is to resign her board position … immediately.”
Niekamp responded, “Last I knew, in America you were innocent until proven guilty and so I assert that right as well. On advice of legal counsel, I can’t say much more to that but as soon as we are able to make a statement, we absolutely will.”
Violet Township Statement
“The Violet Township Board of Trustees and administration are aware that a criminal charge has been brought against Violet Township Fiscal Officer Vanessa Niekamp. We have been apprised that the allegations supporting the misdemeanor criminal charge does not involve actions by Ms. Niekamp in her role as the Township’s Fiscal Officer.
Ohio law does not allow the Board of Township trustees to remove or suspend a fiscal officer for a misdemeanor criminal charge – it is not a disqualifying offense in O.R.C. Chapter 2961. This means the Board of Township Trustees lacks legal standing to remove Ms. Niekamp from her elected office.
The Board of Township Trustees is continuing to review this matter with the assistance of its legal counsel.”
Niekamp responded by stating, “At this time, I have no intention of resigning from Violet Township. I remain committed to fulfilling my duties with the same passion and dedication as I have for the past five years.”
Defamation Lawsuit Against
On July 26, 2024, Niekamp and her husband Philip filed a $1 million defamation lawsuit against Seibert and his firm. The lawsuit stated that Seibert allegedly had been heard at a Pickerington Area Chamber of Commerce golf outing calling Vanessa a “criminal”.
In addition, the lawsuit stated that Seibert libeled Niekamp through statements filed in the police report and published in an article published by Pickerington Online on Aug. 30, 2023. See: Police Investigate Food Pantry Audit – Pickerington Online
“The article reached an unknown number of recipients through social media accounts, including Facebook forums and personal pages, but reasonably believed to be in the hundreds of thousands, both in the Pickerington and Fairfield County communities and beyond,” the lawsuit stated. “The publication of the article clearly placed Niekamp in a false light among community members known to Niekamp and strangers alike.”
The couple withdrew the lawsuit in May.
Lengthy Investigation
Cheney explained why the investigation took more than two years between initial report and appearing on the Common Pleas Court docket.
“This case involved Mrs. Niekamp and her position as the Executive Director of the Pickerington Food Pantry. At this time, we have no reason to believe that any illegal activities were committed related to Mrs. Niekamp’s elected positions with Violet Township and the Pickerington Local School District. Upon the initial filing of the report by Mr. Seibert, Detective Spreen was assigned to the case. Detective Spreen has put in hundreds of hours of work on this case, and I am extremely pleased with his work. I believe he uncovered a lot of evidence in this case and worked very hard for the victim.
This case took nearly two years to complete. On the surface that seems like a long time, but there are several reasons why the case took this long. First, “white collar” type crimes in and of themselves can take a considerable amount of time to investigate. Thousands of pages of financial statements, bank accounts, internet and email files, etc., must be fully examined. And anytime a court subpoena for records is delivered, a business has thirty days to respond. These timeframes can add up. Second, our department utilized the Attorney General’s Office Forensic Accounting Unit for their expertise and that took several months for them to complete. Third, after nearly a year into the case, the Fairfield County Prosecutor requested an outside special prosecutor handle the case and the Delaware County Prosecutor, Melissa Schiffel, took over as the lead prosecutor. This delayed the case as essentially the new prosecutor had to start over reviewing it.
Lastly, several pieces of electronic evidence were submitted to the Ohio Attorney General’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) lab. A BCI analyst began working the case and our understanding is that after several months he took a job out of state. A new analyst was assigned and again had to start over reviewing the material. This again led to several months’ delay. I would have liked to have had the case completed sooner, but I am very satisfied that the delays were beyond Det. Spreen’s control, and his part of the investigation was done as quickly as possible while maintaining detail and accuracy.
Once again I will say I am very pleased with Detective Spreen’s work. He did an outstanding job on this case. The department fully supports Mr. Seibert and his belief that felony level charges should have been pursued. We also thank the Attorney General’s Forensic Accounting Unit and the BCI lab for their assistance.
Possible Additional Charges
In the original police report, Siebert asserted that by law only licensed Certified Public Accountants and compile audit reports.
“The Accountancy Board of Ohio has jurisdiction of these type offenses, and they stated to us that they would review this once our case was completed. Det. Spreen has been in contact with them,” Cheney said.
Previous Allegations and Investigations
The allegedly forged audit is not the first time that Niekamp has been accused of falsifying official documents.
In April 2014, The Columbus Dispatch began a series exposing failures by the Ohio Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors (OBEFD) to prevent funeral home fraud, particularly the mishandling of prepaid funeral accounts affecting mostly elderly clients. When asked for comment, Niekamp (the board’s president at the time) allegedly declined to respond.
In Dec. 2014, Gov. John Kasich appointed attorney Tommy Taneff to the board to investigate. Niekamp allegedly provided Taneff a copy of an email proving that she had answered The Dispatch reporter’s questions. The newspaper told Taneff that Niekamp had allegedly altered the copy of the email that she had given to him and provided Taneff with an original copy.
Taneff also alleged that Niekamp practiced law without a license by negotiating settlement agreements with funeral directors under investigation. He referred both matters to Inspector General Randall J. Meyer.
In March 2016, the Inspector General’s office found no criminal intent, noting the email discrepancies were limited to “pleasantries and tone.” The Ohio Revised Code requires intent “to defraud” for a tampering charge.
Niekamp resigned in July 2016.
The following month, the Ohio Supreme Court’s disciplinary counsel dismissed the unauthorized practice of law allegation, citing that she had been instructed to do so by the board of funeral directors and had stopped after Taneff raised concerns.
