LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – A former Nebraska transit director spent thousands of taxpayer dollars on trips to Disney World and Iowa casinos, State Auditor Mike Foley alleges.
On Monday, Foley released a report detailing the “egregious breaches of law” by Jeffrey Stewart, the former director of North Fork Area Transit in Norfolk.
In the report, investigators said 83% of the service’s funding comes from the State of Nebraska, Madison County and the City of Norfolk.
The state auditor’s office found that the bus service submitted timesheets to the state that were falsified “in a clumsy and obvious manner.”
Stewart also used NFAT’s credit card to pay for over $35,000 in expenses for a family trip to Florida, according to the report.
Timesheets were submitted to state officials showing that Stewart was at work in Norfolk.
But on his wife’s Facebook page, investigators found photos and videos of Stewart at Disney World and Sea World in Orlando.
The auditor’s office also discovered that Stewart spent “considerable time” at two Iowa casinos, while claiming he was on the clock.
Stewart also executed “numerous significant” wire transfers to the casinos using NFAT’s credit card, according to the report.
The service’s accounting records show that it spent about $4.7 million in 2022.
But the audit team found that over $1.1 million was “inappropriate and unrelated” to the bus service’s operation.
Foley accused Stewart of several other misdeeds, including failing to reimburse employees and losing accounting records.
In July, Stewart was arrested after he voluntarily cross the border from Mexico and turned himself in.
“There is no doubt whatsoever that NFAT has seriously abused the trust of the citizens, not to mention their hard-earned tax dollars,” Foley said in the release.