Yitbarek Syume, alleged leader of a bribery scheme targeting the D.C. Taxicab Commission, has been ordered to remain in jail pending trial, Jason Cherkis reports from the federal courthouse.

U.S. District Judge Paul L. Friedman's ruling this afternoon overturns an Oct. 9 decision by Magistrate Judge Deborah A. Robinson to allow Syume to live in a halfway house pending trial. Prosecutors had asked that Syume be kept in jail due in part to comments he'd made on tape purportedly threatening the life of Abdulaziz Kamus, named in a Washington Post report as a FBI mole. On the tape, Syume can be heard saying Kamus will be "permanently eliminated" and that "they will come to him."

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Ward 1 Councilmember Jim Graham has relinquished his oversight of the District's taxicab industry.

The move comes more than a month after his chief of staff, Ted Loza, was collared in a bribery sting where taxi-related interests are alleged to have paid Loza to influence cab legislation. Graham has had the D.C. Taxicab Commission under the purview of his public works and transportation committee since 2007, giving him great control over legislation affecting the taxi business, as well as the power to investigate the industry.

The timing, to say the least is odd. Both Graham and Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray came under fire from LL and others for not making this move sooner. And, earlier this month, the pressure had eased on Graham after federal prosecutors decided not to interview a pair of key staffers before a grand jury

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The audiotape played in court yesterday by federal prosecutors have brought one question about the D.C. taxi investigation to the fore: Who is Causton Toney, and how is he caught up in all this?

Toney is a former chairman of the D.C. Taxicab Commission, and before that served Mayor Anthony Williams in his economic development office. He has a long record of service to the District government before that, as a D.C. Council aide dating back to the 1980s and as a key figure in the city's banking regulatory apparatus.

Since leaving the Taxi Commission---he was replaced by FBI informant Leon Swain---he went to work for a group of Ethiopian cab companies, according to several sources, serving as their attorney, and taking an interest in United Fleet Management, a meter installation company formed by Yitbarek Syume, the alleged leader of the bribery scheme.

Far as LL can tell, there are a couple of possibilities.

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A new and massive wave of arrests is cresting in the taxicab scandal that hit D.C. last week: According to spokespersonBen Friedman of the U.S. Attorney's Office, more than 30 suspects have been arrested today in the case. That number, cautions Friedman, could climb.

Authorities also executed several search warrants this morning in connection with the case.

More updates coming!

Update 2:33 pm: Friedman says the actual arrest tally for the day stands at 27.