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Houston designer accuses former Biden administration official for stealing luggage
FOX 26 Reporter Matthew Seedorff has more from the designer.
HOUSTON - A fashion designer in Houston is now coming forward with accusations claiming clothing worn by former Department of Energy (DOE) official Sam Brinton had been in her luggage reported missing from Washington, D.C. in 2018.
"When I googled him, I saw my outfits on him," said Asya Khamsin.
Asya Khamsin, who has designed and handmade her own clothing line for years, said she recently saw a report that Brinton had been charged with stealing multiple pieces of luggage across the country and noticed that the former official appeared to be wearing her clothes in several photos. Khamsin said she had packed the same clothes in a bag that vanished on March 9, 2018, at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
The Tanzanian fashion designer says her clothes are all hand-made and unique. Including jewelry, shoes, and clothes, Khamsin estimates her missing bag and everything inside to be worth roughly $11,000.
"She’s been working for years," said Khamsin’s husband, Alkhag Khamsin. "It’s custom-made. She does it herself. All of this, there’s no label you can see."
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Khamsin added she'd been on a layover in Washington, D.C., when her bag went missing. She had been traveling to Tanzania for the Lady Red Fashion Show. However, since her clothing disappeared, Khamsin was unable to participate.
"I was crying the whole week because I didn’t do the fashion show and that is in my blood," said Khamsin. "We tried to look through the [surveillance] camera. I think we found the bag was on the machine there, but it disappeared. We didn’t know who took it."
Shortly after the apparent theft of her bag, she and her husband filed a police report with the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Police Department, but the case was never solved. They also filed a claim with Delta Air Lines, which is the airline that she used to travel from Houston to Washington, D.C.
In communications between Khamsin and Delta Air Lines officials from March 2018 shared with Fox News Digital, Khamsin pleaded for help locating her bag, saying that it contained expensive clothes, shoes, jewelry and other personal belongings.
"I googled everything and I saw my clothing, jewelries, blouses," said Asya Khamsin. "The collection with the same prints. Maybe, he liked the designs and this and that, but why? I don’t know how he got my clothes."
After seeing her clothing that resembled the ones in her lost bag in the recent media reports about Brinton, Khamsin filed a complaint with the Houston Police Department on December 16. She then received a phone call regarding the complaint in late January from the FBI field office in Minneapolis, according to Khamsin's husband.
"Houston police, I guess, they [sent] the case to the FBI in Minnesota," Khamsin's husband told Fox News Digital. "He called to say, ‘I’m [with] the FBI, I'm working on this case.' Then my wife gave him the information, and we didn't hear anything. We don't know whether the case is on. We don't know whether the case is cold."
The FBI was unable to comment about the case, citing their policy against confirming or denying investigations. So far, Brinton has not been charged with a crime relating to Khamsin’s claims.
Brinton – who was selected to serve as the DOE's Deputy Assistant Secretary for spent fuel and waste disposition over the summer – is facing significant prison time and hefty fines in relation to two separate baggage theft cases.
The DOE announced on Dec. 12 that Brinton had departed the agency, but wouldn't comment on the reason for the departure after the charges in Minnesota and Nevada. A spokesperson for the DOE said the agency wasn't allowed to comment on personnel matters.
Brinton's lawyer did not respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment.
FOX News Digital contributed to this report.