Navy Officer Pleads Guilty To Trading Info For Entertainment, Sex In ‘Fat Leonard’ Scandal

Matthew M. Burke at the Stars and Stripes offers a piece on another Navy officer taken down with the “Fat Leonard’ bribery and fraud scandal.

Another Navy officer has fallen under the specter of the ever-growing “Fat Leonard” fraud and corruption scandal.

Former Cmdr. Troy Amundson (seen in the above Navy photo on the right), 50, of Ramsey, Minn., pleaded guilty Tuesday in District Court in San Diego to one federal charge of conspiracy to commit bribery for trading “confidential, proprietary U.S. Navy information” for entertainment expenses and prostitutes, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California.

Amundson is the 20th of 29 defendants to plead guilty in the scandal and faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The charges stem from a decade-long conspiracy where foreign defense contractor Leonard Glenn “Fat Leonard” Francis of the Singapore-based Glenn Defense Marine Asia traded bribes and gifts — from cash to Spanish suckling pigs and luxury travel — to a slew of top Navy officers across the Pacific in exchange for information on ship movements and contracts, resulting in tens of millions of dollars in fraudulent over-billing.

Francis (seen in the above photo) pleaded guilty in 2015 to bribery and fraud charges.

“Amundson deliberately, methodically, and repeatedly traded his public office for entertainment expenses and the services of prostitutes, and in so doing, aligned himself with a foreign defense contractor over his Navy, his colleagues and his country,” U.S. Attorney Adam Braverman said in the statement. “We are pressing forward in this investigation until we are certain that all involved have been held accountable.”

Amundson was in a unique position to aid Francis and GDMA as the officer in charge of the Navy’s joint military exercises in the region from May 2005 to May 2013, the statement said. He was responsible for maintaining relationships with foreign navies.

As part of his plea, Amundson admitted that from September 2012 through October 2013 Francis paid for meals, drinks, transportation, other entertainment expenses and prostitutes for Amundson and other Navy officers.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

https://www.stripes.com/news/navy-officer-pleads-guilty-to-trading-info-for-entertainment-sex-in-fat-leonard-scandal-1.509248 

You can also read my Counterterrorism magazine piece on the Fat Leonard case via the below link:

http://www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2017/03/my-piece-on-fat-leonard-us-navy-bribery.html 

U.S. Navy To Review Port Contracts In Light Of Bribery Scandal

Matthew M. Burke at Stars and Stripes offers a piece on the U.S. Navy bribery scandal.

Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus (seen in the above U.S. Navy photo) has ordered a review of how husbanding and port service contracts are handled after the recent corruption and bribery scandal ensnared a handful of high-ranking officers.

In a Dec. 5 memo, Mabus instructed Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition Sean Stackley to review “all acquisition strategies” worldwide and determine whether proper procedures are being followed. He also told the Navy auditor general to audit the contracts to improve internal controls.

 

Husbanding and port service contracts assist Navy ships and sailors when they pull into a foreign port and include everything from goods and services such as fuel or docking, to water and sanitation. Mabus’ memo is in addition to guidance laid out in September after investigations by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service and audits by the Naval Audit Service raised concerns.

 

“This review will ensure we have the proper procedures and policies in place to ensure we live up to our responsibility to the American taxpayer,” Mabus said in a Navy statement released Monday. “This is a responsibility I take seriously, and we will take the necessary steps to ensure we do not violate their trust.”

 

The GDMA scandal — named after the Singapore-based defense contractor Glenn Defense Marine Asia — broke in September when the Justice Department announced the arrests of Cmdr. Michael Vannak Khem Misiewicz, former deputy operations officer aboard the USS Blue Ridge for the Yokosuka-based U.S. 7th Fleet; NCIS supervisory agent John Bertrand Beliveau II; and GDMA head Leonard Glenn Francis.

 

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

 

http://www.stripes.com/news/navy-to-review-port-contracts-in-light-of-bribery-scandal-1.256885