A former State Department budget analyst has pleaded guilty to embezzling more than $650,000 from the department over a two-year period, according to the United States Attorney’s Office in Washington, D.C.
Levita Almuete Ferrer, 64, of Maryland, admitted to abusing her signature authority over a State Department checking account from March 2022 to April 2024 while working as a senior budget analyst in the Office of the Chief of Protocol.
According to prosecutors, she made 60 checks to herself and three to someone with whom she had a personal relationship. She printed, signed, and deposited all 63 checks into her personal bank accounts.
Prosecutors said the checks totaled $657,347.50.
Ferrer, also known as Levita Brezovic, sought to camouflage the scam by using a QuickBooks account.
According to prosecutors, she would enter her name as the payee on checks in QuickBooks before printing them. She would frequently change the listed payee in QuickBooks from herself to a legitimate State Department vendor, making it difficult for anyone seeing those data in the QuickBooks system to identify Ferrer as the payee on checks.
Ferrer pled guilty on Wednesday to theft of government property and is set to be sentenced on September 18. She might face up to ten years in prison.
As part of her plea deal, Ferrer agreed to pay the stolen amount to the US government in restitution and to be subject to a forfeiture money judgment in the same amount.
