Minden woman accused in bad checks case

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A Minden woman accused of writing more than $20,000 in bad checks to the state Department of Motor Vehicles is scheduled to appear next month for an East Fork Justice Court hearing.

Melanie Collins-Freeze recently hired Gardnerville lawyer Ron Cauley and is scheduled to appear March 13. She was in justice court Feb. 6 for a hearing.

She is accused of writing about $20,000 in bad checks to the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles between September 1997 and June 1998.

Collins-Freeze, 50, of Minden, is charged with felony theft. She remains free on $5,000 bond after being arrested New Year's Day.

Collins-Freeze allegedly wrote $20,317 in bad checks on an account belonging to her Incline Village-based business, which was called Vehicle Registration and Title Service.

The business charged Department of Motor Vehicles customers a fee for registering their cars and resolving DMV issues for people who did not have time to visit a DMV office themselves.

She allegedly wrote more than 60 checks to DMV and all were returned due to non-sufficient funds. Eight were written to Douglas County's DMV, while the others were written at the Carson City office.

According to court papers, Collins-Freeze also faces about $19,000 in fines from DMV.

She is a former 13-year DMV employee.