Several Ethiopians arrested in Washington DC taxi bribery scandal

WASHINGTON DC — Investigation of taxi bribery by U.S. federal authorities involving several Ethiopians in the Washington DC area is widening. Authorities have arrested 27 people and indicted 39 so far in a massive bribery case tied to the D.C. taxicab industry.

Two indictments released on October 2 accuse a total of 39 individuals of conspiring to bribe city officials in order to obtain fraudulent taxi licenses between 2007 and 2009.

Taxicab Commission Chairman Leon Swain was the man who first alerted federal authorities to the conspiracy, and the Post reports that Swain was working undercover for the FBI on the case as recently as last month. Mike DeBonis has more on Swain, who so far has not publicly commented on his involvement.

First word of the investigation broke last week, when Ted Loza, chief of staff to Ward 1 D.C. Council member Jim Graham, was arrested and charged with accepting $1,500 in cash and other gifts from taxicab lobbyist Abdulaziz Kamus. Kamus’s name does not appear in today’s indictments, and it’s been previously reported that he was cooperating with the FBI as an informant.

The payments involved on the taxicab commission’s end appear to be much larger: first $14,000 in cash, then $8,000, and even a shopping bag filled with $59,880, plus numerous smaller payments of around $3,000, all totaling up to ultimately hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The apparent ringleaders named in today’s charges are Yitbarek Syume, Berhane Leghese, and Amanuel Ghirmazion, but scores of others are also alleged to be involved, and both indictments refer to co-conspirators “both known and unknown to the Grand Jury.” This case appears poised to grow only larger.