News update for 22 September 2022: Mastermind behind US Navy corruption scandal arrested
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Source: VICE
Man Behind US Navy's Largest Corruption Case Hires a U-Haul, Cuts Ankle Tag, and Flees
"Fat Leonard" bribed officers with sex parties and fancy feasts in exchange for classified information and defence contracts. Now, weeks from sentencing, he's vanished.
By Koh Ewe | September 6, 2022
Widely known as "Fat Leonard" for his 350-pound, 6-foot-three stature, Malaysian businessman Francis cut his GPS monitoring ankle bracelet off on Sunday and fled his San Diego home, where he's been under house arrest since 2018.
Supervisory Deputy U.S. Marshal Omar Castillo told reporters on Monday that police arrived at Francis' home concerned about his health after being notified of a problem with his bracelet, only to find nobody home.
“As of now, multiple leads are being investigated," Castillo said, adding that Francis' neighbors had seen U-Haul moving trucks at his house in the days before his escape. None notified police of his brazen and slow-paced escape, though it’s not clear whether they knew who resided at the property.
Security at Francis' house was lax, Tom Wright, the co-founder of journalism studio Project Brazen, who interviewed Francis at length last year for his podcast Fat Leonard, told VICE World News.
"The fact that we were able to smuggle a microphone to him last year for our podcast, and that after that security on his house remained weak, is very strange," said Wright. In 2020, an inspection found no one guarding the house for three hours when the on-duty guard was out at lunch.
The owner of Glenn Defense Marine Asia, a Singapore-based maritime ship servicing company with ports across the Asia-Pacific, Francis bribed his way into lucrative contracts with the U.S. Navy in the 2000s. At the heart of his sprawling corruption network was the USS Blue Ridge, a command ship that sails around Asia and serves as the floating headquarters for the U.S. Navy's 7th Fleet.
Please go to VICE to read more.
Source: VICE
Man Behind US Navy's Largest Corruption Case Hires a U-Haul, Cuts Ankle Tag, and Flees
"Fat Leonard" bribed officers with sex parties and fancy feasts in exchange for classified information and defence contracts. Now, weeks from sentencing, he's vanished.
By Koh Ewe | September 6, 2022
LEONARD GLENN FRANCIS, ALSO KNOWN AS "FAT LEONARD," WAS AT THE HEART OF THE U.S. NAVY'S LARGEST CORRUPTION SCANDAL. HE ESCAPED HOUSE ARREST ON SUNDAY AFTER CUTTING OFF HIS ANKLE GPS TRACKER. PHOTO: COURTESY OF TOM WRIGHT
His unassailable charm was said to have penetrated the U.S. Navy better than the Soviets ever could, as he gained unprecedented access to classified military information through a massive bribery network. Now, Leonard Glenn Francis has pulled off yet another daring feat, successfully escaping house arrest just weeks before he's set to be sentenced for masterminding the Navy's largest-ever corruption scandal.
Widely known as "Fat Leonard" for his 350-pound, 6-foot-three stature, Malaysian businessman Francis cut his GPS monitoring ankle bracelet off on Sunday and fled his San Diego home, where he's been under house arrest since 2018.
Supervisory Deputy U.S. Marshal Omar Castillo told reporters on Monday that police arrived at Francis' home concerned about his health after being notified of a problem with his bracelet, only to find nobody home.
“As of now, multiple leads are being investigated," Castillo said, adding that Francis' neighbors had seen U-Haul moving trucks at his house in the days before his escape. None notified police of his brazen and slow-paced escape, though it’s not clear whether they knew who resided at the property.
Security at Francis' house was lax, Tom Wright, the co-founder of journalism studio Project Brazen, who interviewed Francis at length last year for his podcast Fat Leonard, told VICE World News.
"The fact that we were able to smuggle a microphone to him last year for our podcast, and that after that security on his house remained weak, is very strange," said Wright. In 2020, an inspection found no one guarding the house for three hours when the on-duty guard was out at lunch.
The owner of Glenn Defense Marine Asia, a Singapore-based maritime ship servicing company with ports across the Asia-Pacific, Francis bribed his way into lucrative contracts with the U.S. Navy in the 2000s. At the heart of his sprawling corruption network was the USS Blue Ridge, a command ship that sails around Asia and serves as the floating headquarters for the U.S. Navy's 7th Fleet.
Please go to VICE to read more.
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It's all kind of weird...
More fine examples of compromised US Naval intelligence and professional military competence:
USS Cole Bombing
Naval Base San Diego fire leaves 21 injured
Freighter Was On Autopilot When It Hit U.S. Destroyer
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