Saturday, 10 October 2009
“The one [the cooperating witness] will be eliminated. You’ll see – [cooperating witness’s name] – eliminated soon. Don’t worry. Permanently eliminated.” The source asked when the cooperating witness would be killed, and the defendant said: “They will come to me. I will tell you.”
The US government says the statement was made by Yitbarek Syume – one of the alleged masterminds of a corruption scheme by taxi drivers in Washington D.C. – who attempted to bribe the chairman of the taxi board in the US capital, in exchange for taxi licenses.
The Superior Court of the District of Columbia Criminal Division – Felony Branch, also heard on Thursday, the recording of the death threat. Yitbarek, 51, has been held at the D.C. jail since his arrest last week.
The threat, prosecutors say, was directed at another Ethiopian, Abdulaziz Kamus, who was in the ring of some 39 cab drivers and taxi company owners.
The men had paid over 300,000 dollars in bribes to Taxicab Commission Chairman Leon Swain – who is referred to as a “source” in the prosecutors’ document.
Swain had two years ago already informed authorities of the attempts to bribe him and an FBI investigation had been initiated. Abdulaziz later turned “the cooperating witness” after he was approached by the FBI.
His identity was exposed when the chief of staff to a Washington councilman, Jim Graham, was arrested on bribery charges, and Abdulaziz’s name was mentioned in media reports.
Abdulaziz, wore a recording device while giving Graham’s chief of staff, Ted Loza, 1,500 dollars in bribes, according to the media reports.
Graham, who is said to be very close to Abdulaziz, had proposed a bill where a medallion system would be applied and taxi drivers would pay a monthly fee to operate in his district. He called for the taxi commission of the city to implement either a medallion or certification system to limit the number of cabs operating in his district.
Graham, who oversees the taxi industry in Washington as chair of the Council’s Committee on Public Works and Transportation, paid a five-week visit to Ethiopia in 2004.
facilitated Graham’s visit here, and the councilman had at the time told reporter’s from this paper that all his expenses were covered by Ethiopian Airlines and The Sheraton Addis.
Law enforcement sources have reportedly said Graham is not a target in an ongoing federal corruption probe. He will also maintain his duties of overseeing the taxi industry in Washington.
Washington taxi drivers unhappy over Graham’s proposed medallion system are reported to have boycotted the popular Adams Morgan neighborhood. Graham also withdrew his proposed bill. He is said to have denied that his withdrawal of the bill had any connection with the arrest of his staffer Loza.
According to a Washington Post report, the presiding judge on Thursday did not rule on prosecutors’ request, saying she had not heard enough evidence by the end of the three-hour hearing.
The judge had given the US government until yesterday afternoon to find and play tapes of Yitbarek allegedly making other threatening statements.
A study published in 2004, shows that 11% of Ethiopian born employed men in the US were taxi/limo drivers in 2000.
Other estimates show that there are about 150,000 to 200,000 Ethiopian born people in the Adams Morgan neighborhood, otherwise known as Little Ethiopia.
