Former State Department analyst pleads guilty to embezzling more than $650K

A former State Department budget analyst has pleaded guilty to embezzling more than from the agency over a two-year span according to the U S Attorney's Office in Washington D C Levita Almuete Ferrer of Maryland admitted to abusing her signature authority over a State Department checking account between March and April in her ceiling as a senior budget analyst in the department s Office of the Chief of Protocol She wrote checks to herself and three checks to someone else she had a personal relationship with prosecutors explained She printed and signed each check before depositing all checks into her personal bank accounts RUBIO OVERHAULING 'BLOATED' STATE DEPARTMENT IN SWEEPING REFORMThe checks totaled according to prosecutors Ferrer also known as Levita Brezovic attempted to hide the scheme through the use of a Quickbooks account She would enter her name as the payee on checks in Quickbooks and print them prosecutors noted She would often then change the listed payee in Quickbooks from herself to a legitimate State Department vendor making it demanding for anyone viewing those entries in the Quickbooks system to see Ferrer as the payee on the checks STATE DEPT DEFENDS HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSE ACCOUNT CHANGES SAYS STREAMLINED PROCESS ELIMINATES 'POLITICAL BIAS'Ferrer pleaded guilty on Wednesday to theft of executive property and is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept She could face a maximum of years in prison As part of her plea agreement Ferrer agreed to pay the stolen amount in restitution to the U S administration and be liable for a forfeiture money judgment in that same amount