Following a public dispute between the Pickerington police chief and a special prosecutor who investigated the former director of the Pickerington Food Pantry, that former director is now facing felony charges.
Vanessa Niekamp, 55, of Pickerington is charged with telecommunication fraud, identity fraud and forgery in Fairfield County Common Pleas Court. All three charges are felonies. Her attorney declined comment, saying Dec. 10 they had not yet seen the indictment.
Niekamp previously led the food pantry. She is the Violet Township Trustees fiscal officer and a member of the Pickerington School Board. Her school board term ends on Dec. 31 and Niekamp did not run for reelection.
A Pickerington police investigation into Niekamp determined she falsified a grant submission form by altering an audit report for the food pantry.
Delaware County Prosecutor Melissa Schiffel, who was asked to be a special prosecutor on the case, reached a plea agreement with Niekamp’s attorney that would have resulted in Niekamp pleading guilty to a misdemeanor records tampering charge.
Before that hearing could occur though, Pickerington Police Chief Tod Cheney posted on the police department’s Facebook page about his displeasure with the conclusion.
“Felony charges related to forgery, theft by deception and tampering were recommended by our agency,” Chaney wrote. “I believe the felony indictments would have been made by a grand jury had the case been presented.”
The public disagreement led Schiffel to leave the case and the investigation to continue. Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said the Fairfield County Prosecutor’s office requested that his office’s special prosecutions unit handle the case.
At the time she had been scheduled to take a plea agreement in August, Niekamp was still the executive director of the Pickerington Food Pantry. Yost’s office identified Niekamp as the former executive director in a Dec. 10 news release, and the food pantry’s website lists a new person in the role. It is unclear when Niekamp left the position and whether she did so voluntarily.
The accusations against Niekamp center around 2022 fiscal year financial statements that police and prosecutors say Niekamp falsified using letterhead and a signature from an accounting firm. While documents related to the allegations against Niekamp were filed under seal when the case was scheduled for a plea deal, the indictment filed on Dec. 10 identifies the victim by the initials “J.S.”
Those initials match John Siebert, a named partner in the accounting firm who Niekamp sued in July 2024, later withdrawing the suit earlier this year, according to court records. Niekamp’s lawsuit said Siebert filed a complaint with Pickerington police that accused Niekamp of falsifying audited financial statements with his accounting firm without the firm’s knowledge or consent.
Niekamp is scheduled to appear no later than Jan. 8 for an arraignment in Fairfield County Common Pleas Court.
Reporter Bethany Bruner can be reached at bbruner@dispatch.com or on Bluesky at @bethanybruner.dispatch.com.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Felony charges filed against former Pickerington Food Pantry director
Reporting by Bethany Bruner, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
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