February 11, 2013, - 6:38 pm

Smithsonian Parking Lot Attendant Says She Only Stole When it Wasn’t Ramadan, Gave $s to Mosques

By Debbie Schlussel

Your parking lot fees could be financing jihad, depending on who owns the lot and who takes your money to pay the fees.

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Parking Lot Jihad: Did You Pay the Jizya?

Hey, it’s yet another story of immigrants doing “the backbreaking work Americans won’t do”: stealing more than $1 million in parking lot fees at a branch of the Smithsonian Institution and giving it to mosques. Oh, but no worries, because Freweyni Mebrahtu says she did not steal during the holy month of Ramadan, just during all the other 11 months. I’m surprised she even took a break for Ramadan because, after all, we are only infidels and it’s halal money stealing from infidels. Hmmm . . . I wonder what the immigration status of this chick and her fellow Ethiopian accomplice is. Probably more of the wonderful “new Americans” that Marco Rubio wants to immediately put on a “path to citizenship.”

Authorities have determined that parking-lot employees stole more than $1.5 million from the Smithsonian at the museum’s Udvar-Hazy Air and Space annex in Chantilly, much more than first estimated.


The new estimate came to light at a hearing Friday in federal court in Alexandria, where a lot attendant, Freweyni Mebrahtu, 46, of Sterling, was sentenced to two years and three months in prison.

When charges were announced last year, authorities said they believed the losses exceeded $400,000 but were unsure of the exact amount.

At Friday’s hearing, Mebrahtu admitted she alone stole $895,000 over a three-year period.

She said she did so at the urging of supervisors with parking contractor PMI, who demanded two-thirds of the money Mebrahtu took in.

Going into Friday’s hearing, authorities had estimated that Mebrahtu stole nearly $1.2 million, based on length of employment and how much she typically stole each month. But prosecutors accepted her assertion that she did not steal during the Muslim holy days of Ramadan, and revised the loss attributable to Mebrahtu to $895,000.

A second employee, Meseret Terefe of Silver Spring, Md., was sentenced to 20 months in prison after admitting to the theft of $487,000 in parking fees.

A third employee died awaiting trial [DS: she committed suicide], and an exact count was never determined, but court records show that authorities believe she stole more than $120,000.

Visitors to the Udvar-Hazy center typically pay a $15 parking fee. Court records show that Mebrahtu and other employees engaged in the scheme routinely unplugged machines that counted the vehicles entering the building, and that on a typical day Mebrahtu would fail to log in nearly 40 percent of the cars that came through her lane.

[Emphasis added.]

And, as I noted, Ms. Mebrahtu only used the money to finance mosques and send her kids (likely anchor babies) to college, so it’s all good, right?

Terefe stuffed the cash into his duffel bag, and then he’d toss the bag into his trunk at the end of a shift. He had $218,000 in his apartment when he was arrested last summer. He had already spent some of the rest to buy a condominium in Addis Ababa, his case files show.

Mebrahtu stole nearly $900,000 and used it to pay for her children’s college, a daughter’s surgery, cash gifts to relatives, shipments of medications and clothing to families and friends overseas and donations to mosques, according to statements Friday in U.S. District Court in Alexandria.

She consistently skimmed about a third of the fees paid at her booth and as much as $4,000 a day, court files show — or the money from an estimated 59,712 visitor vehicles.

She also schooled other attendants in how to pilfer the fees so the cash coming out of their lanes was not more than their co-workers’ and a cause for suspicion, court records show.

[Emphasis added.]

Yup, again, these are the immigrants the Wall Street Journal and the Senate Gangbang of Eight don’t brag about in their amnesty pushes. As if any of these fine specimens of immigration will become the founder of the next Intel or some other crazy fairy tale they keep pimping us on.

Oh, and by the way, we really don’t know where the money went, once they sent it “overseas.” Might have gone to fund Islamic terrorism. Don’t bet against it.

Final question: to which mosques did Ms. Mebrahtu “donate” the money? Were they in the U.S.? And, if so, did the feds try to get the money back?

Don’t count on it.

***

In case you were wondering (as I was), why this part of Smithsonian is called “Udvar-Hazy,” it’s because a good deal of the money for it was donated by Hungarian-born American founder and CEO of AirLease, Steven Udvar-Hazy . . . who came here with his parents as a child LEGALLY.




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22 Responses

No one knows their parking attendant on a first name basis.

There is no way of knowing if the attendant is honest.

This incident does illustrate though the entire problem with amnesty in a nutshell – you don’t know if illegal aliens committed serious felonies.

Neither the WSJ nor the Senate Amnesty Gang proposes to check every applicant to ensure they haven’t committed a serious crime. The Open Borders Crowd proposes legalizing hundreds of thousands of people who could well be thugs, terrorists, drug traffickers, armed robbers, rapists and murderers and they don’t care about our safety.

Is this disclosure about wrong-doing at the Smithsonian going to lead them to stop pushing for amnesty? Don’t bet on it.

NormanF on February 11, 2013 at 6:57 pm

This also shows what bozos run the Smithsonian. There are many internal controls available to the Smithsonian to cross-check parking receipts. First, no employee should even have the capability to unplug anything without a record of that being made somewhere. Second, the parking there is the the only parking available there. Thus, there should be a correspondence between the ticket sales inside the Smithsonian with the parking sales outside the Smithsonian. I happen to know a little bit about how the Smithsonian is run and the audit department there is run by an attorney. The Smithsonian has NEVER used anyone other than an attorney to do internal audits. Now, attorneys can be very good at practicing law, but they generally know NOTHING internal control, fraud detection, finance, or accounting. This problem is not just with the Smithsonian, but cuts across all governement departments. There are NO competent anti-specialists at the top. We happen to be hearing about this story, but I can assure you that this money lost is small potatoes compared to the rampant waste, fraud, abuse, mismanagement, and corruption that spans government enterprises. The US government’s own inspector generals have admitted that the US government loses trillions of dollars every ten years. That’s only what they’ll admit to. You can only imagine how much is really lose. But don’t worry, the US Government will have the answer. They’ll appoint a Muslim Inspector General to oversee activities.

Ralph Adamo on February 11, 2013 at 7:14 pm

    Ralph,

    I was thinking the same thing about the lack of internal controls.

    This theft ring could be just the small tip of a very large iceberg.

    What about the “supervisors” at PMI? Have they been arrested? How widespread is this type of theft at other gov’t facilities that handle cash including other parking facilities? Are there any accomplices among the “internal control” people?

    I believe most Ethiopian immigrants are Christian, but maybe someone who knows more about it can confirm this.

    ANY of these criminals who are not US citizens should be immediately DEPORTED after they complete their prison sentences, even if that means revoking any green cards they may have.

    S: In 2007, Islam was Ethiopia’s second largest religion with 34%, and it’s growing. In this case, though, the female Ethiopian perpetrator is a devout Muslim. DS

    Scott on February 11, 2013 at 8:46 pm

      Ethiopia’s Christianity would have been extinguished by the Ottoman armies if the Jews and Christians hadn’t fought together to avert it.

      Its the largest Christian country in east Africa and its population will outstrip that of Muslim Egypt within two decades.

      Virtually the Jews are now in Israel.

      NormanF on February 11, 2013 at 11:20 pm

This just the size of the waste, fraud and abuse that’s uncovered.

The federal government still can’t account for money that it misses. And they tell us we’re not paying it enough in taxes!

Puhleeaze.

NormanF on February 11, 2013 at 7:24 pm

The WMATA lost millions in parking fees, and I bet that the Ethiopian/Eritrean lot attendants pilfered them. Since then, we pay with our SmartTrip card or with our credit/debit card.

Julie on February 11, 2013 at 10:25 pm

Debbie,

Thanks for bringing light to this. I find it amazing that no matter the city, the parking garages are almost always operated by East African and Egyptian Muslims. I am sure that a lot of it is cultural linkages (like Korean grocers, Vietnamese dry cleaners, Italian pizzerias) but the fact they seem to work at every Federal building in every city is disconcerting. Well, at least its not like some Egyptian Muslims tried to attack us by bombing a parking garage….oh, wait, what’s that? It already happened in 1993? Well, mustn’t stigmatize or hurt anyone’s feelings or jump to any rash conclusions I guess, especially since this bunch was “only” stealing.

Great…..

please on February 11, 2013 at 10:30 pm

How about – whenever an illegal alien (amnestied or not) is convicted of a crime, one of the amoebas who support them should serve a year in jail?

Nir Leiu on February 11, 2013 at 10:41 pm

Ever notice the light sentences given to Muslim thieves, compared to those given to Jewish and Christian peeps? Compare this sentence to that given to the rabbi who sold what he claimed to be torahs rescued from the holocaust.

Jonathan E. Grant on February 11, 2013 at 10:50 pm

Immigration enthusiasts never tire of pointing out how Third World immigrants simply want to live the American dream. The truth is a great many of them — more, at any rate, than we wish to believe — want to steal it. Like these Ethiopian racketeers who managed to get caught.

Cliche-riddled supporters of amnesty…er, comprehensive immigration reform, of course, can never admit to the criminal ulterior motives of so many immigrants. It would mean siding with “racists” and “nativists.” At some point, an American political figure worthy of the name Enoch Powell will rise up and give the speech that begs to be made.

rocker on February 11, 2013 at 11:25 pm

‘…more of the wonderful “new Americans” that Marco Rubio wants to immediately put on a “path to citizenship.’

Bleech…

DS_ROCKS! on February 11, 2013 at 11:31 pm

Debbie stealing from the government should be decriminalized as any money they miss out on they can just print up or tax or borrow. People caught could just lose internet access, the ultimate deterrent. Also Debbie thanks to your prayer and support I’m getting better and stronger every day and B’H I should soon return to form.

A1 on February 11, 2013 at 11:36 pm

What amazes me is the very short prison time this woman will face. If an ordinary person had skimmed off nearly a million dollars from an employer, the sentence would have been far harsher even if there had been a plea bargain.

Worry01 on February 12, 2013 at 1:38 am

Whoever goofed with your share features has queered it so it won’t share on Facebook.

Lance on February 12, 2013 at 9:40 am

Sentences for crimes against the government should be DOUBLED.

JJ Glanton on February 12, 2013 at 12:50 pm

It’s amazing how incompetent people are when they aren’t managing their own money. Can you imagine a private parking garage owner letting this happen? A person who, before they invested in a garage, spent months poring over revenues, expenses, taxes, regulations, traffic patterns, health care costs, repairs, legal issues, etc., to make sure that there is enough margin every month to break even after paying off their loan. A person who, if there was even a 3% difference in revenues from what they planned on, would go crazy and stay up nights until they figured out where the money was leaking. If it was a 40% leak he’d be out of business in a few months.

JJ Glanton on February 12, 2013 at 12:55 pm

Well at least the local imam wasn’t in on it. Oh. Wait. Of course he was. Up to his neck.

pat on February 12, 2013 at 1:01 pm

An MBA colleague of mine once told me about his Boston neighborhood pals who went to Boston College and got their MBAs. Rather than take jobs on Wall Street, the two brothers took jobs managing parking garages. Parking garages??? Isn’t that for idiots? No, because, parking garage management is all about the skim, and when you are in charge of the skim, the pay is a lot higher than Wall St and the hours are a lot easier. You just have to make sure that you give 10 points to the guys in Miami.

JJ Glanton on February 12, 2013 at 1:05 pm

Next time you pay cash for anything, even if it is 50 cents, ask for a cash register receipt especially if some third world turd African is taking your money. They won’t be able to pocket it if a receipt is produced. See how quickly they tell you the register is broken, out of paper, or tell you some other mumbo-mumbo Obama reason that they can’t.

Don't Be A Fool on February 12, 2013 at 2:45 pm

I am against theft.Do not wide open your door and whine when you got robbed.
When an individual enters the American embassy in Addis Ababa the capital of Ethiopia for visa request he has to pay 2,840.40(Eth.Birr).On average around 300 Ethiopians enter the embassy and this 852,120.00(Eth.Birr) in a day.
In five working days of the it comes to 4,260,600.00(Eth.Birr).
In 52 weeks or a year it is 221,551,200.00(Eth.Birr).
ETB $100.00 = 5.91 USD.
What do you call this? Ethiopia’s donation to USA.
Thanks God Bless America & Ethiopia.
Much Fun Kassa
Ottawa, canada.

much fun Kassa on February 12, 2013 at 10:18 pm

More good news on how the upper crust is sticking it to the rest of us. It’s not like anyone had enough to worry about parking areas in detroit with regard to their personal safety. Now it seems the third world turd resemblance is becoming even more exact.

Anyone out there happen to be at the winter blast, and enjoy a meal at a coney island lately? Like when all the nice democrats invaded and wilded?

samurai on February 12, 2013 at 10:37 pm

What a lie. They all Christiane. I don’t know where the author got her fact.

Moahmmed on July 19, 2013 at 2:50 am

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