‘Fat Leonard’, the Malaysian businessman behind US Navy’s worst corruption scandal, lives above doctor’s garage as he seeks cancer treatment
Leonard Glenn Francis, who plied officers with cash, liquor and prostitutes and other perks to ensure that US Navy ships stopped at ports where his firm operated, lives in a small flat above a garage at the home of one of his doctors
Five years ago, investigators with the US Navy knocked on the door of a San Diego hotel suite, waiting for the Malaysian businessman inside to answer – and in the process launch what has become the worst corruption scandal for the navy in decades.
Since the arrest of businessman Leonard Glenn “Fat Leonard” Francis that day, US federal prosecutors in San Diego have methodically filed charges or secured indictments against 32 defendants, including 27 US Navy officials, for their roles accepting bribes from Francis, owner of the ship servicing firm Glenn Defence Marine Asia.
Hundreds more US Navy personnel who had interactions with Francis or his company have had their cases reviewed internally, with several facing court martial.
And while the tally of the accused has continued to rise, nothing has been heard from Francis – until July, when he answered questions behind closed doors.
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Francis, who pleaded guilty in January 2015 and agreed to cooperate with investigators, testified for the first time – in a deposition taken for a court martial case for Commander David Morales, a fighter pilot charged with conspiracy and bribery.
Francis testified at length and in detail about his interactions with Morales, who fought the court martial charges filed against him.
But the defence lawyer who questioned him asked for a mistrial at the court martial because he said Francis committed perjury.
The military judge hearing the case did not agree, but he acquitted Morales of the most serious charges against him, which relied in part on Francis’s version of events.
A lawyer defending a US Navy officer now under indictment for accepting bribes from Francis, attended the court martial and said later that the deposition could put Francis’s credibility as a witness in play in future cases.
“It was clear to everyone in the courtroom the judge had serious questions about Leonard Francis’s credibility as a witness,” said Joseph Mancano, a lawyer representing retired Captain David Newland, facing charges of conspiracy and bribery.
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“I think the words the judge used were ‘possible embroidery’ of his testimony and how Leonard Francis had trouble answering questions directly.”
Francis also testified about his current status at the deposition.
The 54-year-old Malaysian businessman is suffering from renal cancer, and for months has been under the care and treatment of doctors in San Diego, according to the transcript and court records in San Diego federal court.
He’s no longer in the custody of the US Marshals, nor is he in a federal jail. He is on a medical furlough requested by lawyers and approved by the federal judge overseeing his case late last year.
Francis is living in a small flat above a garage at the home of one of his doctors.
He is under guard 24 hours a day by private security guards, which his family is paying for. They are allowed to visit him for up to three to four hours at a time, he said. He’s allowed to go to church once a week.
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As part of a plea agreement Francis entered into in January 2015, he agreed to forfeit US$35 million to the US government – a measure of how much he profited from the bribery scheme.
Yet Francis has paid only US$5 million of the amount, and did so – as the agreement required – in the first 90 days after he pleaded guilty. There’s no indication of when the rest will be paid.
That may not be unusual. For all his time in custody and the years since he pleaded guilty, Francis has yet to be sentenced for his crimes.
Typically, cooperating witnesses like him in multiple-defendant cases are not sentenced until all the cases against other defendants are finished.
At that time, prosecutors can ask for a reduced sentence based on the cooperation of a witness. Francis is working for that.
The core of Francis’s decade-long bribery scheme was to bribe US Navy personnel with sex, liquor, cash and gifts, and then have them use their influence to get ships to dock in ports his company controlled.
Once there, he gouged the US Navy for providing things like fuel, waste removal, fresh water, land transport and security.
