A former State Department budget analyst who served under the Biden administration has pleaded guilty to embezzling more than $650,000 from the agency over two years, the U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office in Washington, D.C., announced.<\/p>\n
Levita Almuete Ferrer, 64, admitted to misusing her signature authority over a State Department checking account between March 2022 and April 2024. Ferrer, a Maryland resident, held the position of senior budget analyst in the department\u2019s Office of the Chief of Protocol.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors said Ferrer wrote 60 checks to herself and three to an individual with whom she had a personal relationship. She printed and signed each of the 63 checks before depositing them into her personal bank accounts, the outlet noted further. The checks totaled $657,347.50, according to prosecutors.<\/p>\n
Ferrer, who also goes by Levita Brezovic, attempted to conceal the embezzlement by using a QuickBooks account. Prosecutors said she entered her name as the payee in QuickBooks, then printed the checks before depositing them.<\/p>\n
Ferrer frequently altered the payee information in QuickBooks after printing the checks, changing it from her own name to that of a legitimate State Department vendor. This tactic made it difficult for anyone reviewing the system to identify her as the actual recipient.<\/p>\n
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She pleaded guilty on Wednesday to theft of government property and is scheduled to be sentenced on September 18. Ferrer faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, The Post reported.<\/p>\n
As part of her plea agreement, Ferrer has agreed to repay the full amount stolen in restitution to the U.S. government and is also subject to a forfeiture money judgment for the same amount, the report added.<\/p>\n
Early last month, a bodyguard from Secretary of State Marco Rubio\u2019s security detail was arrested after \u201cbehaving erratically\u201d at a Brussels hotel and battling with police officers in the Belgian city.<\/p>\n
The experienced Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) agent was handcuffed after becoming enraged when employees at the renowned Hotel Amigo refused to reopen the bar after hours.<\/p>\n
According to sources, the bodyguard became physically hostile when personnel, including the hotel\u2019s night manager, attempted to encourage him to return to his room.<\/p>\n
The DSS agent then fought with police after they were called by hotel management to assist, leading to his arrest, the New York Post reported.<\/p>\n
The agent was released later the same day following an intervention by the US Embassy in Brussels, according to sources who spoke with The Post.<\/p>\n
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Rubio stayed in the same hotel later that week when he visited Belgium for a NATO leaders\u2019 meeting, but he was not present at the time of the alleged event.<\/p>\n
DSS agents are responsible for securing US diplomats and diplomatic facilities around the world, as well as investigating offenses including passport and visa fraud.<\/p>\n
According to a State Department official, many shift supervisors, including the arrested agent, are overworked.<\/p>\n
\u201cShift supervisors [on Rubio\u2019s detail] have an incomprehensible workload,\u201d one source told the Washington Examiner. \u201cThey are responsible for all the agents under them, scheduling, evaluations and a preposterous amount of admin work [as well as] performing the actual shift work.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey work six to seven days a week. I truly believe this was the result of incomprehensible strain [the agent] was placed under and, at the very least, [the DSS] owes [them] a very fair evaluation of these circumstances in their totality,\u201d the source added.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Diplomatic Security Service is aware of allegations of an incident involving an employee in Brussels, Belgium, on March 31, 2025,\u201d a State Department spokesman told the Examiner. \u201cWhile we don\u2019t discuss specific personnel matters, the allegations are being examined.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rubio has become one of President Trump\u2019s most trusted Cabinet members. In addition to heading up the State Department, Trump has named him interim national security adviser, acting administrator for USAID and acting archivist for the National Archives and Records Administration.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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