An explosive whistleblower lawsuit claiming at least two former Kentucky Transportation Cabinet employees were being paid under the table to provide driver’s licenses and permits to buyers, including undocumented immigrants, has drawn scrutiny from state lawmakers, with one pledging to take action on the first day of the 2026 legislative session.
The lawsuit, filed in April by former KYTC employee Melissa Moorman, alleges Moorman was required to share her log-in information with other employees during her more than two years working at a KYTC office in the Nia Center. Two of those employees are accused in the case of taking money from undocumented residents and creating driver’s licenses for them, without running proper screenings for their immigration status.
Moorman claims she was fired after reporting their conduct and meeting with federal investigators in January 2025, telling WDRB her coworkers were charging $200 per fraudulent license four or five times per day over the course of more than two years.
The two employees at the center of the lawsuit do not appear to have been criminally charged, though they were fired last fall. Gov. Andy Beshear also noted Kentucky State Police is investigating, and his office is following the case, though he added there are “at least some statements in that complaint that are not factual.”
Allegations in a lawsuit represent just one side.
The fraudulent credentials were discovered during a regular KYTC review of applications, he said in a weekly press conference. In all, 1,985 credentials have been revoked and no longer work at airport check-in gates or other places where IDs are typically scanned, he said.
“Ensuring the integrity of state-issued identification is a high priority, and any irregularities are taken seriously and investigated,” Beshear said. “… We are committed to getting all of the facts and to holding anybody who violated the law accountable.”
In response to questions, Beshear said he didn’t remember offhand when he was initially made aware of the investigation, though KSP had already been contacted at that point. He also said he wasn’t sure if all the fraudulent licenses were issued to undocumented immigrants — “there are a number of different reasons people might want to get fake identification, and I want to make sure I don’t get in front of the Kentucky State Police in their current investigation.”
Republican state legislators have pledged to take more action, as President Donald Trump’s administration continues its crackdown on illegal immigration.
State Sen. Jimmy Higdon, R-Lebanon, said the allegations account to “a betrayal of public trust” if accurate, pledging to take action when the General Assembly reconvenes in January. Higdon heads the Senate Transportation Committee.
And state Sen. Aaron Reed, R-Shelbyville, said he plans to introduce a bill “on day one of the 2026 session” that will restore “licensing authority to the county level, where accountability is local, direct and responsive,” calling for an investigation into the allegations “completely separate from the executive branch.”
“When the integrity of our driver’s licensing system is compromised, public safety is at risk,” Reed said in a release. “Allowing illegal aliens to obtain driver’s licenses, whether through negligence or willful disregard, creates vulnerabilities that no Kentuckian should accept.”
In responses to the lawsuit filed in Jefferson Circuit Court, KYTC has said Moorman was “terminated for legitimate, non-discriminatory reasons not casually related to the alleged whistleblowing activity” and denied most of the allegations, noting Moorman was technically employed by Quantam Solutions, a Michigan-based company that helps with staffing at the office.
Quantam, in court filings, has also denied the allegations and called for the complaint to be dismissed.
KYTC did not provide a statement ahead of publication, and Quantam did not respond to a request for comment.
The 2026 General Assembly, a 60-day session in Frankfort, is set to begin in January.
Reach Lucas Aulbach at laulbach@courier-journal.com.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Andy Beshear: Nearly 2,000 Kentucky licenses were fraudulently issued
