Former State Department Staffer Admits Embezzling More Than $650,000

MONTGOMERY VILLAGE, MD — A Montgomery County woman pleaded guilty Wednesday to embezzling more than $650,000 from the U.S. State Department over two years, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in the District of Columbia.

As part of her guilty plea, Levita Almuete Ferrer, 64, of Montgomery Village, who is also known as Levita Brezovic, admitted she abused her signature authority over a State Department checking account between March 2022 and April 2024.

As a senior budget analyst in the State Department’s Office of the Chief of Protocol, Ferrer issued 60 checks payable to herself and three checks payable to another person 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, prosecutors said.

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, a news release said. 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.

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. She faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.

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.

This case was investigated by the State Department’s Office of Inspector General and Diplomatic Security Service. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kondi Kleinman with assistance from Paralegal Specialist Sona Chaturvedi. Essential investigatory work was conducted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Katherine Orville of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of South Carolina.