NAVY CORRUPTION CASE BLOWS WIDE OPEN! "FAT LEONARD" FRANCIS SET TO PLEAD GUILTY TO BRIBING SENIOR NAVAL OFFICERS WITH CASH AND PROSTITUTES - CRIMINAL MASTERMIND RAN SINGAPORE-BASED CONTRACTING FIRM THAT SUPPLIED FOOD, FUEL AND WATER TO NAVAL WARSHIPS "STEERED" TO ASIAN PORTS WHERE U.S. TAXPAYERS RIPPED OFF TO THE TUNE OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS - TWO NAVY ADMIRALS MAY HAVE HAD KNOWLEDGE OF THE SCAM © 2015 MilitaryCorruption.com
By the time you read this, "Fat Leonard" Francis, the criminal mastermind of a Singapore- based contracting firm, may have appeared before a U.S. magistrate in San Diego and pleaded guilty to bribery and conspiracy. He had previously maintained his innocence to the charges.
The rotund one can be expected to "sing like a bird" now about his activities bribing senior U.S. Naval officers with cash and prostitutes in exchange for them "steering" warship ports- of-call to Asian locations where the fat man's Glenn Martin Defense Corp. bilked the American taxpayer and the U.S. Navy out of millions of dollars.
Investigators tell MilitaryCorruption.com the cost of food, fuel and water at these liberty stops was hugely inflated. "Fat Leonard" paid one three-stripe commander (see related stories box below) $100,000 in greenbacks and supplied him with whores, but that was just a minor operational expense compared to the vast profits GMDC made.
HOW HIGH UP THE CHAIN DOES IT GO?
The biggest shock in this sordid tale is how high up the chain-of-command the corruption went.
We do know that officers up to rank of captain have admitted a role in the kickback scam, but if what we hear is true, two U.S. Navy admirals may be in a great deal of trouble.
Both VICE ADM Ted "Twig" Branch and his fellow Naval Academy ring-knocker, REAR ADM Bruce Loveless, have had their security clearances yanked and they have been placed on leave.
This extraordinary action indicates the NCIS suspects, at the minimum, that Branch and Loveless knew about the bribery and payoffs and did nothing to stop them. But - and this will be huge, if true - if any of that bribe money found its way to these admirals, there is no way the Pentagon can avoid a court-martial for both flag officers.
WAS SECURITY OF U.S. COMPROMISED?
Remember, dear reader, there is a lot more at stake here than John Q. Taxpayer getting ripped off while several corrupt Navy commanders took money under the table. That happens fairly often.
If the security of the United States was in any way compromised by our ships being serviced by members of a criminal organization (which could easily have been infiltrated by terrorists or their sympathizers) then all hell will break lose.
You can be sure that Navy Secretary Ray Mabus himself is tossing and turning in bed over this set of developments. It could end up one of the worst corruption scandals in U.S. Naval history.
