A former senior budget analyst in Joe Biden’s State Department has admitted to embezzling more than $650,000 from U.S. taxpayers, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia announced this week—marking yet another ethics failure inside the previous administration’s bloated federal bureaucracy.

Levita Almuete Ferrer, 64, of Maryland, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to one count of theft of government property. She acknowledged exploiting her position as a senior budget analyst in the Office of the Chief of Protocol between March 2022 and April 2024. Prosecutors say Ferrer wrote and deposited 63 checks—60 to herself and three to a personal associate—totaling a staggering $657,347.50 into her private bank accounts.

Ferrer, also known as Levita Brezovic, used her official check-signing authority to initiate the fraud. According to prosecutors, she manipulated the department’s QuickBooks accounting system by first listing her own name as the payee, then later altering records to make it appear the funds went to legitimate government vendors—making the embezzlement harder to detect.

She is scheduled to be sentenced on September 18 and faces a potential 10-year prison term. Ferrer has agreed to full restitution and a forfeiture judgment for the amount stolen.

While the Biden-era scandal draws fresh criticism of the former administration’s lax oversight, troubling issues have also surfaced inside the current State Department under Secretary Marco Rubio, a trusted member of President Donald J. Trump’s Cabinet.

According to the New York Post, a member of Rubio’s Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) detail was arrested in Brussels, Belgium in late March after what witnesses described as erratic and combative behavior at Hotel Amigo, a luxury hotel frequented by top officials.

The DSS agent reportedly grew aggressive when hotel staff declined to reopen the bar after hours. When employees, including the night manager, tried to de-escalate, the agent became physically hostile. Local authorities were called, and the agent resisted police before being handcuffed and detained. He was released later that day following an intervention by the U.S. Embassy.

Although Secretary Rubio—who was in Belgium for a NATO summit—stayed at the same hotel later that week, he was not present during the incident.

According to State Department insiders, the intense workload placed on DSS personnel has pushed many to the breaking point.

“Shift supervisors [on Rubio’s detail] have an incomprehensible workload,” one official told the Washington Examiner. “They are responsible for all the agents under them, scheduling, evaluations and a preposterous amount of admin work [as well as] performing the actual shift work.”

The source added that agents work six to seven days a week, and called for a comprehensive review of internal policies. “At the very least, [the DSS] owes [them] a very fair evaluation of these circumstances in their totality.”

In a statement, the State Department confirmed awareness of the March 31 incident and said the allegations are being reviewed:

“The Diplomatic Security Service is aware of allegations of an incident involving an employee in Brussels, Belgium… While we don’t discuss specific personnel matters, the allegations are being examined.”

Despite the internal turmoil left over from the Biden years, Rubio continues to distinguish himself in President Trump’s second term, currently serving as Secretary of State, interim National Security Adviser, acting USAID administrator, and acting Archivist for the National Archives—a testament to Trump’s confidence in his leadership and loyalty.