Comment The Malaysian defense contractor who pleaded guilty to bribing Navy officials with sex parties, fancy dinners and alcohol in a massive corruption scandal has escaped just weeks before his sentencing date. Leonard Glenn Francis, also known as “Fat Leonard” for his shadowy frame, escaped Sunday while under house arrest in San Diego, where he was awaiting a Sept. 22 hearing. A multi-agency investigation by the San Diego Regional Drift Force and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service is ongoing, officials said. “He cut off his GPS tracking bracelet on Sunday morning,” the US Marshals Service announced late Monday. “Task Force officers went to his residence and upon arrival noticed that the house was now empty.” Days before she disappeared, neighbors recalled a sighting trucking to Francis’ home, Deputy Superintendent Omar Castillo with the U.S. Army Southern California District told the San Diego Union-Tribune. “He was planning this, that’s for sure,” Castillo told the newspaper, which was the first to report Francis’ escape. Castillo did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday night. Leaks, feasts and sex parties: How ‘Fat Leonard’ infiltrated the Navy’s floating headquarters in Asia Devin Burstein, a lawyer for Francis, said in an email to the Washington Post that he “has no comment at this time.” Francis pleaded guilty in 2015 to offering Navy officials $500,000 in cash bribes in the service’s largest corruption scandal. According to prosecutors, it was all part of an attempt to defraud the military industry of about $35 million. Francis’ Singapore-based company, Glenn Defense Marine Asia, provided items and services needed by Navy submarines and ships in port, including food, water, waste removal and fuel. But investigators alleged Francis’ company overcharged for its services and falsified some invoices. The 7th Fleet is in turmoil after a series of deadly ship collisions and one of the worst corruption scandals in Navy history. (Video: Jason Aldag, Dan Lamothe/The Washington Post) He bribed Navy personnel in the Asia-Pacific region in exchange for classified information about ship movements to win more military contracts. Francis offered about $1 million in Cuban cigars. luxury items? meals at Michelin-starred restaurants. and a party with, what prosecutors described as a “spinning carousel of prostitutes,” an investigation by The Post found. Other items included tickets to a Lady Gaga concert and a Gucci fashion show, according to court documents. The Navy prohibits personnel from accepting gifts worth more than $20. There is an annual limit of $50 for accepting gifts from a single source. But hundreds of active-duty and retired personnel — including about 60 admirals — were under scrutiny for possible violations of military law or ethics rules as part of the investigation, The Post reported. Most were later cleared of wrongdoing. More than 30 people — including Navy officers, enlisted sailors, contractors and Francis employees — have either been indicted or pleaded guilty for their part in the scheme. Whores, vacations and cash: Navy officials take down ‘Fat Leonard’ The scope of the scandal has baffled civilians and military members alike since it came to light in 2013, with many wondering: How did the fleet succumb so easily to Francis’ temptations? “That’s really the point, is how easily souls of the Navy were sold, the price of the Navy was sold for prostitutes, for fancy dinners, for money for American interests,” Rachel VanLandingham, a former Air Force officer and military officer, told NPR legal. in June. In a nine-part podcast about the scandal, Francis told Tom Wright: “I’m a civilian, I’m just a civilian, I’m not a US citizen, and all these senior naval officers would just rush to my command: Do this, and they will move the ships for me.” However, his reach collapsed in 2013 when federal agents staged a sting operation at a San Diego hotel. Since pleading guilty in 2015, Francis has worked as a cooperating witness for federal prosecutors building cases against others involved in the plot — and shared evidence, including files from Glenn Defense Marine Asia’s computer servers. The man who led the 7th Fleet astray After health complications — including a bout with kidney cancer, swollen knees and a hernia, according to court records — Francis was released from federal custody in 2018 and placed under house arrest. His home is monitored by a security environment that he pays for. But that deal was one that prosecutors had fought in 2013 and 2015 — arguing he might try to flee for the Mexican border, The Post reported. That’s one of the scenarios authorities are facing almost a decade later. Castillo told the Union-Tribune that international borders and airports are on alert, but Francisco may already be across the Rio Grande.
