http://m.wusa9.com/vanews/article?a=215675&f=237 3 Smithsonian Parking
Attendants Arrested For Stealing $400K In Fees
9NEWS NOW
August 6, 2012
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (WUSA) - Three employees of Parking Management, Inc. were
arrested Saturday on charges of stealing at least $400,000 of visitor
parking fees collected at the Smithsonian Institution's Steven F.
Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia, according to Neil H. MacBride,
United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.
Freweyni Mebrahtu, 45, of Sterling, Virginia, Meseret Terefe, 36, of Silver
Spring, and Genete Yigzu, 46, of Alexandria, Virginia, were charged in
three separate criminal complaints with embezzling and stealing federal
monies belonging to the Smithsonian Institution.
Each faces a maximum of ten years in prison, if convicted. The two women,
Mebrathu and Yigzu, and one man, Terefe, were arrested by agents of the
Smithsonian Office of Inspector General and Federal Bureau of Investigation
after finishing their shifts at the Udvar-Hazy Center on Saturday.
The Udvar-Hazy Center is the annex of the National Air & Space Museum and
is home to the Space Shuttle Discovery and other historic aircraft.
According to an affidavit filed in court, Mebrathu, Terefe, and Yigzu each
began stealing parking fees in April 2009, shortly after PMI took over
management of the Udvar-Hazy Center's parking lot. They are all booth
attendants employed by Washington, D.C.-based PMI, which holds a fixed-rate
contract with the Smithsonian to operate the 2,000 vehicle parking lot.
Visitors pay a $15 daily fee per vehicle to use the parking lot. The
affidavit states that closed-circuit television cameras captured Mebrathu,
Terefe, and Yigzu repeatedly unplugging the electronic vehicle counters
located in each attendant's booth as a way to manipulate accurate vehicle
counts. Terefe was also seen hiding a bundle of cash taken from the
entrance fees in a side pocket of his red duffel bag, which he carried away
from the parking facility at the end of his shift.
Court documents allege that Mebrathu and Terefe, on some days, each stole
more than $4,000 from the Smithsonian. Yigzu is accused of stealing as much
as $1,185 on a single day. The documents allege a three-year loss to the
Smithsonian of at least $400,000.
Received on Mon Aug 06 2012 - 22:09:31 EDT
