Wednesday, 07 May 2025

JUST IN: Former U.S. State Department Official “Pleads Guilty to Embezzling More than $650,000,” Justice Department Announces

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A former U.S. State Department official pleaded guilty to embezzling over $650,000, the Justice Department announced.

“Former State Department Budget Analyst Pleads Guilty to Embezzling More than $650,000,” the U.S. Attorney DC stated.

From the U.S. Attorney’s Office DC:

Levita Almuete Ferrer, 64, of Montgomery Village, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to embezzling more than $650,000 from the U.S. State Department over a two-year period.

The guilty plea was announced by U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin Jr., Special Agent in Charge Benjamin Brockschmidt of the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Inspector General, and Deputy Assistant Director William Ferrari of the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service Office of Special Investigations.

As part of her guilty plea, Ferrer, who is also known as Levita Brezovic, admitted that she abused her signature authority over a State Department checking account between March 2022 and April 2024 while working as a Senior Budget Analyst in the State Department’s Office of the Chief of Protocol. She issued 60 checks payable to herself and three checks payable to another individual with whom she had a personal relationship. She printed and signed each check and then deposited all 63 checks, which totaled $657,347.50, into her personal checking and savings accounts.

Ferrer attempted to conceal her scheme by using a common Quickbooks account at the State Department. After entering her name as the payee on checks in Quickbooks and then printing them, she often changed the listed payee in Quickbooks from herself to an actual State Department vendor. As a result, anyone viewing those entries in the Quickbooks system did not see Ferrer’s name as the payee on the checks unless they accessed an audit trail.

 

Per DC News Now:

U.S. District Judge Christopher R. Cooper accepted Ferrer’s guilty plea to theft of government property and set a sentencing date for Sept. 18, 2025. Ferrer faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. Judge Cooper will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

As part of her plea agreement, Ferrer agreed to pay $657,347.50 in restitution to the U.S. government. She also agreed to be liable for a forfeiture money judgment in that same amount.


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