|
|
|
|
Author
|
Topic: Smithsonian Udvar-Hazy: Parking lot fees thefts
|
SpaceAholic
Member Posts: 4437
From: Sierra Vista, Arizona
Registered: Nov 1999
|
posted 02-09-2013 07:25 AM
   
The Associated Press reports that parking-lot employees have stolen more than $1.5 million from the Smithsonian at the National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center annex in Chantilly, Va, much more than an earlier estimate. 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, 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. |
YankeeClipper
Member Posts: 617
From: Dublin, Ireland
Registered: Mar 2011
|
posted 02-09-2013 08:26 AM
You have to love the personal integrity that stops one from stealing during a sacred month because that would be just too wrong!  |
Glint
Member Posts: 1040
From: New Windsor, Maryland USA
Registered: Jan 2004
|
posted 02-09-2013 01:19 PM
I'm glad I use an Air & Space Society pre-paid parking pass whenever I need to park there during business hours. At least I know my money has gone directly to the museum. |
bwhite1976
Member Posts: 281
From: Belleville, IL
Registered: Jun 2011
|
posted 02-09-2013 08:54 PM
Boss: "Oh heck, our receipts are down 40% again. Oh gosh, I bet so and so was working again yesterday. Oh well. Must have been a slow day...again."Wouldn't someone have analyzed parking reciepts versus attendance or SOMEONE not involved in the scheme have noticed a huge discrepancy? Amazing they got away with this for so long. |
sev8n
Member Posts: 234
From: Dallas TX USA
Registered: Jul 2012
|
posted 02-09-2013 09:36 PM
Did no one notice the 40% increase in parking receipts during Ramadan? |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3208
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
|
posted 02-09-2013 09:41 PM
The only people to blame are the employees who stole the money. Nobody else. |
ejectr
Member Posts: 1751
From: Killingly, CT
Registered: Mar 2002
|
posted 02-11-2013 06:47 AM
Okay, so now that they aren't losing 40% anymore, they can lower the parking to $10 and still make the same amount of money. |
mjanovec
Member Posts: 3811
From: Midwest, USA
Registered: Jul 2005
|
posted 02-11-2013 01:50 PM
quote:
Originally posted by ejectr:
Okay, so now that they aren't losing 40% anymore, they can lower the parking to $10 and still make the same amount of money.
No, they'll probably raise it to $20 to make up the money that was lost.
| |
Contact Us | The Source for Space History & Artifacts
Copyright 2020 collectSPACE.com All rights reserved.
Ultimate Bulletin Board 5.47a
|
|
|
 advertisement
|
