Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, April 15, 2010

A man who advocated for Ethiopian taxi drivers in the District admitted in federal court Wednesday that he was part of a conspiracy in which public officials received or were offered $270,000 in cash, trips, limousine rides and other perks in exchange for favors.

Ted G. Loza

By Tim Craig:
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, April 2, 2010

A federal grand jury brought additional charges Thursday against Ted G. Loza, who was D.C. Council member Jim Graham’s chief of staff before he was arrested last fall, accusing him of accepting or soliciting more than $30,000 in cash, trips, limousine rides and meals in exchange for pursuing legislation favorable to the taxicab industry.

When he was arrested Sept. 24, Loza was charged with two counts of bribery on allegations he accepted $1,500 in payments from Abdulaziz Kamus, an advocate for Ethiopian cabdrivers who was trying to secure advantages for that community in the city’s taxicab market. In a superseding indictment filed Thursday, prosecutors are adding a count of conspiracy to commit bribery, an additional count of bribery, a count of extortion and a count of making false statements, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.

The indictment spells out an effort by Loza to solicit or accept numerous gifts from Kamus for himself or others between August 2004 and November 2008. In exchange, according to the indictment, Loza agreed “to influence the passage of legislation” that was pending before a committee that at the time was chaired by Graham (D-Ward 1).

In some cases, the indictment alleges, Loza was soliciting gifts on behalf of “Public Official No. 1,” who had chaired the Committee on Public Works and Transportation. Sources in the U.S. attorney’s office previously confirmed to The Washington Post that Graham was “Public Official No. 1.”

No charges have been filed against Graham, and there is no indication in the indictment that he did anything illegal. When reached Thursday night, Graham would only say, “The indictment does not charge me with any wrongdoing of any kind.”

Loza, who was unavailable to comment Thursday, has denied wrongdoing. He is scheduled to go on trial in October.

The investigation stems from allegations that a group of Ethiopian business owners tried to bribe D.C. public officials to create an exemption for the number of taxicab licenses that would be issued in the District. In indictments handed down in the fall, Yitbarek Syume, 51, of Silver Spring and two others were charged with attempting to bribe Leon Swain Jr., chairman of the D.C. Taxi Commission, with $200,000.

Swain, who was not charged with any wrongdoing, alerted federal authorities to the alleged bribe and is cooperating with their investigation.

In 2004, Loza joined Graham on a trip to Ethiopia, which Graham deemed as cultural outreach. Loza’s involvement in the investigation began in April 2007, when, according to the indictment, Kamus gave him $2,000. Six months later, Kamus, Syume and an unidentified co-conspirator met with Swain, the document says. At that meeting, the men stated that they planned to offer Graham another trip to Ethiopia in exchange for his support of legislation to impose a moratorium on the issuance of taxicab licenses
On Nov. 27, 2007, prosecutors allege, Loza solicited money from Kamus for a trip that he and Graham were allegedly taking to El Salvador. After speaking with Syume, Kamus drove to the John A. Wilson Building on Nov. 28. Outside the building, Kamus gave Loza about $500 in cash, the indictment alleges.

Then, on Jan. 6, 2008, Kamus offered to arrange for Loza and Graham a trip to Ethiopia “as a reward for their help in enacting legislation to curb the issuance of taxicab licenses,” according to the indictment. A few days later, Kamus allegedly told Loza that he had obtained airline tickets for him and Graham to take the trip. Syume also made hotel arrangements, according to the indictment. But Syume told another unidentified co-conspirator by telephone later that month that Graham had refused to make the trip, according to the indictment.

“Syume stated that for ‘safety’ reasons Public Official No. 1 would not travel to Ethiopia until after the moratorium on the issuance of taxicab company licenses had been enacted,” the indictment states.

During the next three months, Loza is alleged to have accepted limousine rides from Kamus for him and his relatives, cash payments of $500 and $4,000, and free parking for his girlfriend.

On June 30, 2009, Graham introduced a bill that he has said was designed to limit the number of cab operators in the city because he feared the District was being overrun by taxis.

Graham has repeatedly denied wrongdoing and has stated that he was “fully cooperating” with authorities. In September, law enforcement officials told The Post that Graham was not a target of their investigation.

Graham said Thursday night that he was unaware at the time of Loza’s alleged involvement in arranging possible trips for him to Ethiopia and Miami.

But D.C. Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray (D) has decided to shift oversight of the taxi industry from Graham to council member Michael A. Brown (I-At Large) until the investigation is complete.

By Del Quentin Wilber

Washington Post Staff Writer

Friday, November 20, 2009

The former head of the D.C. taxi commission participated in a long-running bribery scheme that sought his influence to obtain lucrative taxi licenses, federal authorities allege in recently unsealed court papers.

The accusations appear in an FBI affidavit seeking permission to search the home of Causton Toney, chairman of the D.C. Taxicab Commission from 2005 through early 2007.

Toney, 55, has not been charged with a crime, and his attorney said the former official has done nothing wrong.

The court papers and another recently unsealed court document provide the most detailed look yet into a two-year investigation that has resulted in 39 arrests of people in the taxi industry. A D.C. official, Ted G. Loza, the former chief of staff to a D.C. Council member, also has been charged.

The documents reveal that the investigation started in 2007, when the newly appointed chairman of the taxi commission, Leon J. Swain Jr., was approached by Yitbarek Syume, a powerful figure in the taxi industry.

Syume wanted Swain to approve licenses for new taxi companies and offered the commissioner $20,000, an FBI agent alleges in an affidavit seeking approval from a judge to search Toney’s home.

Swain, a former D.C. police officer, reported the meeting to authorities and soon was working as an undercover informant.

Syume and two other men were indicted on charges of giving Swain more than $200,000 to obtain taxi company licenses during the undercover operation. The men hoped to obtain as many licenses as possible in anticipation of a moratorium on issuing licenses, prosecutors have said.

Authorities have not indicated why they raided Toney’s house Oct. 2. He does business with Syume but is not named in the indictment. In the newly unsealed court papers, an FBI agent says that wiretaps and other recorded conversations link the former taxi commissioner to the conspiracy.

In November 2007, Toney told Syume in a phone call that he had talked to Swain and that Swain had told him that he “wants us to keep pushing ahead . . . to get this thing done so — I’m going to do that,” the affidavit says. The agent wrote that Toney’s comments are a “possible reference to completing their scheme.”

By this year, Swain had given Syume and the others numerous licenses, the FBI said, but the taxi commissioner had not officially activated them.

The conspirators wanted him to put the names of at least some of the companies on the D.C. government Web site to give them a veneer of legitimacy, the FBI agent wrote.

“If they don’t see something that they thought they were investing in, they think they’ve been robbed,” Toney told Swain during a meeting in May, according to the affidavit.

Toney, a lawyer, did not return a phone message seeking comment. His attorney, Brian Lederer, said his client “is not linked to any criminal conspiracy in any way, shape or form.” He said Toney is cooperating with authorities.

“He wasn’t involved in it,” Lederer said, calling the search warrant a reasonable request to look for evidence.

By July, Toney, Swain and Syume had agreed to post the names of six companies on the D.C. Web site.

Toney and the others “have been involved in attempting to illegally obtain and subsequently legitimize company licenses from Mr. Swain,” the agent wrote.

But the transcripts also raise questions about the extent of Toney’s participation. In 2007, the affidavit alleges, Swain complained to Toney that he wasn’t getting his payments from Syume on time.

“Okay,” Toney responded, according to the affidavit. “I didn’t know what was going on. I didn’t even know that was going on at all. Okay. I’ll just tell him to get his act together.”

Other newly unsealed search warrants indicate that the FBI first came across Loza, the council staffer, in 2007 when agents intercepted conversations between him and another member of the taxi conspiracy, Abdulaziz Kamus.

In a November 2007 phone call, Loza asked Kamus whether he could “raise a little money for us to go on this trip” to El Salvador. The next day, Kamus handed Loza $500 for the trip, the FBI alleged.

By the next year, the FBI said, Kamus had arranged for Loza to accept about $3,500 for a trip to Ethiopia from an undercover FBI agent posing as a taxi investor, the court papers say.

Kamus became an FBI informant in June, the court papers say. He gave Loza $1,500 during two meetings, federal prosecutors have said. Kamus wanted help pushing legislation that was beneficial to him and others in the taxi industry, prosecutors have said.

Loza’s boss, council member Jim Graham (D-Ward 1), is chairman of the committee that handles the issue.

Loza’s attorney, Pleasant Brodnax, declined to comment Thursday.

In the court papers, an agent wrote that a District-based advertising firm, Prisma Communications, paid for Graham to fly to El Salvador last year.

Graham said that he knew a company had financed the trip but that it had no business with the city. He has denied any wrongdoing. “I am not a target of this investigation,” he said Thursday.

Kamus may have been An FBI Informant

More than two dozen people have been indicted in the rapidly expanding federal bribery investigation into the D.C. taxi industry, the Post’s Del Quentin Wilber is reporting. That’s a whole lotta people. So who, besides Ted Loza, are they? They’re “cab drivers or others with financial ties to the industry,” most of whom will probably be arrested today, according to anonymous sources. Keep your eye out for handcuffed cab drivers this afternoon!

And here’s the first answer we’ve seen to the big question of just who tipped off the feds to this bribery ring in the first place: Wilber writes that a member of the D.C. Taxicab Commission was the individual who first alerted authorities and ended up wearing a wire. No word on which of the eight members of the commission this was.

Also crucial is confirmation that “Individual #1″ in the Loza indictment, Abdulaziz Kamus, was indeed reportedly working as an FBI informant.

Source:  http://dcist.com

End Tyranny Now!

“No person wants to live in a society where the rule of law gives way to the rule of brutality and bribery. That is not democracy, that is tyranny, and now is the time for it to end.” Thus spoke President Barack Obama last week to Africa’s tin-pot dictators using the Ghanaian parliament as a sounding board.

During the presidential campaign and over the past seven months, many Ethiopians had expressed uncertainty and apprehension about the future direction of U.S. foreign policy in Ethiopia. Some thought President Obama would continue the knee-jerk terror-centric policies of George Bush; other believed it would be the dawn of a new day in U.S. policy. We offered analyses which foretold the orientation of U.S. foreign policy in Ethiopia and Africa under an Obama administration.[1]

The President’s speech in Accra was both a diagnosis of what ails Africa, particularly Ethiopia, and a set of remedial prescriptions. President Obama spoke disapprovingly of the divisive and outdated politics of tribalism and ethnicity which continues to poison the African body politics. He urged Africans to reconcile around their common humanity and Africanity. He spoke of the corrosive effects of corruption on the soul of Africa and urged good governance to restore hope in the spirit of the African people. He declared Africa’s future is up to Africans, but challenged Africa’s youth to mold and shape it.

The Poison of Tribalism and Ethnic Politics

President Obama blasted identity politics as a canker in the African body politics:

We all have many identities – of tribe and ethnicity; of religion and nationality. But defining oneself in opposition to someone who belongs to a different tribe, or who worships a different prophet, has no place in the 21st century…. In my father’s life, it was partly tribalism and patronage in an independent Kenya that for a long stretch derailed his career, and we know that this kind of corruption is a daily fact of life for far too many….

Few countries in Africa today are more afflicted and conflicted by the artificially engineered ethno-tribal virus than Ethiopia. Using a completely phony theory of “ethnic (tribal) federalism”, the dictators in Ethiopia have created what amounts to apartheid-style Bantustans or tribal homelands. They have segregated the Ethiopian people by ethno-tribal classification in grotesque regional political units called “kilils”. This sinister perversion of the concept of federalism has enabled a few cunning dictators to oppress, divide and rule some 80 million people for nearly two decades.

We have called them out on their divide-and-rule politics.[2] We have repeatedly called upon them to tear down of the walls of tribalism and ethnicity. Our humanity, we asserted, is more important than our ethnicity, nationality, sovereignty or Africanity! We are not prisoners to be kept behind tribal walls, but free men and women who are captains of our future in one unwalled Ethiopia that belongs to all of us equally. We echo President Obama, and President Reagan from another era, when we call upon those who built the tribal walls to tear them down once again: “Zenawi, tear down the kilil tribal walls behind which you have kept our people locked up! Let them go before you go!”

The Fundamental Truth: Development Depends on Good Governance

President Obama said,

We must first recognize a fundamental truth that you have given life to in Ghana: development depends upon good governance. That is the ingredient which has been missing in far too many places, for far too long…

The dictators in Ethiopiahave proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that they are clueless about good governance; and their idea of development is ripping off the people to enrich their relatives and friends. “Concentrat[ion] of  wealth in the hands of the few [that] leaves people too vulnerable to downturns” is not development.

Good governance is based on a set of objective measures. We subscribe to the 8 benchmark parameters of good governance set by the U.N.: Participation (men and women participate equally in political and civil society institutions); rule of law (an independent judiciary and impartial law enforcement agencies administer the justice system with strict adherence to the law of the land); transparency (public decisions are made and implemented according to established rules and regulations); responsiveness (public needs are met in a timely manner); consensus-building (the different interests of groups in society are harmonized in formulating policy); equity and inclusiveness (individuals and groups feel they have a stake in society and do not feel excluded);  effectiveness and efficiency (scarce resources are used for maximum public benefit and service);  accountability (leaders and institutions are accountable to the public and under law). In sum, good governance is to development as water is to a bountiful harvest. No water, no harvest!

Good Governance is Sustained by Respect for Human Rights

Just as development is based good governance, we believe respect for human rights is the sustaining force for good governance. Human rights principles provide a set of values to anchor and guide leaders, institutions and processes in serving the common good. Political action and reforms guided by principles enumerated in international human rights instruments, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and conventions dealing with the rights of the child, elimination of discrimination based on gender and religion, and protection of economic, social and cultural rights and others, are central to the development of a fair and just society in Ethiopia.

The New Pillar of American Foreign Policy in Africa

President Obama announced that his administration’s policy in Africa will be guided by a simple principle: The U.S will provide support for the establishment of strong democratic governments, enhanced protections for human rights and assistance to victims of human rights violations, and efforts aimed at rooting out corruption in Africa. He said the U.S. will “sanction and stop those who” violate human rights:

First, we must support strong and sustainable democratic governments. Governments that respect the will of their own people are more prosperous, more stable and more successful than governments that do not. No country is going to create wealth if its leaders exploit the economy to enrich themselves… In the 21st century, capable, reliable and transparent institutions are the key to success – strong parliaments and honest police forces; independent judges and journalists; a vibrant private sector and civil society. Those are the things that give life to democracy, because that is what matters in peoples’ lives….

In Moscow, I spoke of the need for an international system where the universal rights of human beings are respected, and violations of those rights are opposed. That must include a commitment to support those who resolve conflicts peacefully, to sanction and stop those who don’t, and to help those who have suffered.

The President made it clear that democracy is about outcomes such as “strong parliaments and honest police forces; independent judges and journalists; a vibrant private sector and civil society.” He disagrees with those who claim that “democracy is about process, it’s not about outcome… If the process is clean and you get zero, tough luck.”

“Brutality and bribery” are the engines of tyranny, the President asserted. Economic chaos packaged as a litany of “ten percent annual  growth” is not development; and American taxpayers will not provide aid to support such “development”. In short, American support to African regimes will be contingent on the implementation of “concrete solutions to corruption like forensic accounting, automating services, strengthening hot lines and protecting whistle-blowers to advance transparency and accountability, peaceful transfers of power, ending brutal repression, growth of civil society institutions, expansion of political space for civic participation and youth involvement.”

Africa’s Salvation Will Come Through Its Youth

President Obama knows that talking to African tin pot dictators is like pouring water on a slab of granite. There will be no penetration. The dictators will probably sit around in their echo chambers and lament the fact that the President is naïve about African politics and its complexities. The fact is that he is not only well informed on Africa, he is also fully prepared to deal with African dictators.  After all, he cut his teeth on Chicago politics. In his eloquent and artful way, the President told the African dictators that they are not only decidedly on the wrong side of history, but also that they are inconsequential in the grand scheme of things:

Make no mistake: history is on the side of these brave Africans and not with those who use coups or change Constitutions to stay in power. Africa doesn’t need strongmen, it needs strong institutions….

We have learned that it will not be giants like Nkrumah and Kenyatta who will determine Africa’s future. Instead, it will be you – the men and women in Ghana’s Parliament, and the people you represent. Above all, it will be the young people – brimming with talent and energy and hope…

And I am particularly speaking to the young people. In places like Ghana, you make up over half of the population. Here is what you must know: the world will be what you make of it. You have the power to hold your leaders accountable and to build institutions that serve the people. You can serve in your communities and harness your energy and education to create new wealth and build new connections to the world. You can conquer disease, end conflicts and make change from the bottom up. You can do that. Yes you can.”

The role of youth in Ethiopia’s future deserves special attention. It is manifest that the dictators today have little interest in developing Ethiopia’s youth to “hold leaders accountable and build institutions that serve the people.” The dictators aim to mobilize, ideologize and “harness the energy of Ethiopian youth” to create armies of androids that will serve them obsequiously. They understand Hitler’s maxim: “He alone, who owns the youth, gains the future.” For this reason, it is instructive to watch the video of the recently stage-managed youth conference of the dictators available on ethiotube.net.

While the dictators abuse the youth, the opposition and the older generation has largely ignored them. Truth be told, we have done a poor job of preparing Ethiopian youth for their historic role in rebuilding and reorganizing the new Ethiopian society. We have become less than inspiring role models by our inability to set good examples of tolerance, harmony and collaboration. We have done little to teach the youth of our mistakes so that they will not repeat them. We have offered them little clarity to remove their confusion and uncertainties. We have failed to empower them in defending human rights. The dictators hold “conferences” to steal the souls of Ethiopian youth. What have we done to harness their idealism to serve their country and people? What have we done to inspire their minds, free their spirits and fortify their hearts in the historic task of reconstructing a new Ethiopia unburdened by tribalism, sectarianism, sexism and corruption?

The president is absolutely right. Africa’s, and Ethiopia’s, future will be shaped by its youth. The sooner we, who profess our faith in freedom, democracy and human rights, realize and own up to this irrefutable fact and begin helping them, the sooner will come Africa’s salvation. Young Ethiopians need good role models. Let each one of us strive to be one, for in the end the future belongs to them.

We should not expect quick results from the President’s speech. We must understand that the Obama administration does not have all of its Africa hands on deck; and the President is preoccupied with many domestic issues. Suffice it to say to African dictators that Barack Obama is not George Bush.

[2] http://www.abugidainfo.com/?p=5513

ACCRA, Ghana – An American president who has “the blood of Africa within me” praised and scolded the continent of his ancestors Saturday, asserting forces of tyranny and corruption must yield if Africa is to achieve its promise.

“Yes you can,” Barack Obama declared, dusting off his campaign slogan and adapting it for his foreign audience. Speaking to the Ghanaian Parliament, he called upon African societies to seize opportunities for peace, democracy and prosperity.

Click here to view the embedded video.

“This is a new moment of great promise,” he said. “To realize that promise, we must first recognize a fundamental truth that you have given life to in Ghana: Development depends upon good governance. That is the ingredient which has been missing in far too many places, for far too long. That is the change that can unlock Africa’s potential.”

Click here to view the embedded video.

America’s first black president spoke with a bluntness that perhaps could only come from a member of Africa’s extended family.

“No country is going to create wealth if its leaders exploit the economy to enrich themselves, or if police can be bought off by drug traffickers,” he said.

“No business wants to invest in a place where the government skims 20 percent off the top, or the head of the Port Authority is corrupt. No person wants to live in a society where the rule of law gives way to the rule of brutality and bribery.

“That is not democracy, that is tyranny, even if occasionally you sprinkle an election in there,” he said, “and now is the time for that style of governance to end.”

He added: “Africa doesn’t need strongmen, it needs strong institutions.”

Obama was on a 21-hour visit to the West African nation to highlight that country’s democratic tradition and engagement with the West. His visit, his first to sub-Saharan Africa as president, was greeted as a “spiritual reunion” Saturday by Ghanian legislators.

Before the flight home, Obama visited Cape Coast Castle, a seaside fortress converted to the slave trade by the British in the 17th century. In its dungeons, thousands of shackled Africans huddled in squalor before being herded onto ships bound for America.

He, his wife Michelle, their daughters and the first lady’s mother toured the grounds as a festive crowd of thousands milled outside, pounding drums and dancing in the streets. Obama smiled and waved, pausing after he exited the motorcade, before disappearing with his family and entourage into the courtyard. Michelle Obama is the great-great granddaughter of slaves.

Earlier, people lined the streets, many waving at every vehicle of Obama’s motorcade as it headed toward a meeting at Osu Castle, the storied coastline presidential state house, before his speech to Parliament. “Ghana loves you,” said a billboard.

The Obama administration sought a wide African audience for the president’s speech, inviting people to watch it at embassies and cultural centers across the continent.

The 33-minute address was in part a splash of cold water for Africans who blame colonialism for their problems.

Obama spoke of the indignities visited upon Africans from the era of European rule. He said his grandfather, a cook for the British in Kenya, was called “boy” by his employers for much of his life despite his being a respected village elder. He said it was a time of artificial borders and unfair trade.

But he said the West is not to blame “for the destruction of the Zimbabwean economy over the last decade, or wars in which children are enlisted as combatants.” Nor for the corruption that is a daily fact of life for many, he said.

“Africa is not the crude caricature of a continent at perpetual war,” he said. Yet for “far too many Africans, conflict is a part of life, as constant as the sun. There are wars over land and wars over resources. And it is still far too easy for those without conscience to manipulate whole communities into fighting among faiths and tribes.

“These conflicts are a millstone around Africa’s neck.”

Obama started his day with typical calm. Wearing a gray T-shirt and gym pants, he walked through the lobby of his hotel almost unnoticed at 7:30 a.m. local time on his way to the downstairs gym for a workout.

A short time later, his motorcade left the hotel, passed under hovering military helicopters and arrived for a delayed welcome ceremony with Ghanaian President John Atta Mills.

“I can say without any fear of contradiction that all Ghanaians want to see you,” Mills said. “I wish it were possible for me to send you to every home in Ghana.”

Before the flight home, Obama planned to tour Cape Coast Castle, a seaside fortress converted to the slave trade by the British in the 17th century. In its dungeons, thousands of shackled Africans huddled in squalor before being herded onto ships bound for America.

The castle visit mirrored ones paid by Clinton and George W. Bush to the slave-trading post of Goree Island, Senegal — with the added impact of Obama’s mixed-race background and history-making election.

In Ghana, too, Obama followed in Clinton’s footsteps. In 1998, a surging crowd cheered Clinton in Accra’s Independence Square and toppled barricades after his speech. Clinton shouted, “Back up! Back up!”, his Secret Service detail clearly frantic.

Bush’s reception last year was less tumultuous, but equally warm. At a welcoming banquet, then-President John Kufuor noted huge increases in U.S. development aid and AIDS relief — and named a highway after Bush.

Obama avoided scheduling large public events, wishing to keep emotions in check in a singular moment in African-American diplomacy.

The president pledged America’s partnership in Africa’s growth. Specifically, he said he would make sure U.S. aid gets to the people who need it most, such as farmers and entrepreneurs, not Western consultants and administrators.

That’s why $3.5 billion in food assistance will focus on new methods and technologies for farmers, instead of simply sending U.S. goods to Africa, he said.

Obama flew to Ghana after the G-8 summit in L’Aquila, Italy, approved a new $20 billion food security plan. It aims to help poor nations in Africa and elsewhere to avert mass starvation during the global recession.

He also had a cordial first meeting with Pope Benedict XVI. In their half-hour private audience at the Vatican, the two reviewed Mideast peace and anti-poverty efforts, aides reported. They also discussed abortion and stem cell research at length, subjects of disagreement between them.

Associated Press Writer Mark S. Smith, Associated Press