Democracy Dies in Darkness
Investigations
‘Fat Leonard’ probe expands to ensnare more than 60 admirals
By Craig Whitlock November 5 at 7:42 PM
Maritime tycoon Leonard Glenn Francis was a VIP guest at Navy change-of-command ceremonies even though he was under criminal investigation. Clockwise from top left: Francis with Adm. Patrick Walsh at the Pearl Harbor base in Hawaii in January 2012; Adm. Jonathan Greenert and Francis at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, in September 2011; Francis with Vice Adm. Michael Miller at the same event; and Francis with Adm. Gary Roughead, also in Annapolis. (Photos obtained by The Washington Post)
The “Fat Leonard” corruption investigation has expanded to include more than 60 admirals and hundreds of other U.S. Navy officers under scrutiny for their contacts with a defense contractor in Asia who systematically bribed sailors with sex, liquor and other temptations, according to the Navy.
Most of the admirals are suspected of attending extravagant feasts at Asia’s best restaurants paid for by Leonard Glenn Francis, a Singapore-based maritime tycoon who made an illicit fortune supplying Navy vessels in ports from Vladivostok, Russia to Brisbane, Australia. Francis also was renowned for hosting alcohol-soaked, after-dinner parties, which often featured imported prostitutes and sometimes lasted for days, according to federal court records.
The 350-pound Francis, also known in Navy circles as “Leonard the Legend” for his wild-side lifestyle, spent decades cultivating relationships with officers, many of whom developed a blind spot to his fraudulent ways. Even while he and his firm were being targeted by Navy criminal investigators, he received VIP invitations to ceremonies in Annapolis and Pearl Harbor, where he hobnobbed with four-star admirals, according to photographs obtained by The Washington Post.
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The Justice Department has filed criminal charges against 28 people, including two admirals, since Francis was arrested in an international sting operation four years ago. Those cases comprise the worst corruption scandal in Navy history, but they represent a fraction of a much larger list of Navy officials under investigation but whose names have been mostly kept secret.
In response to queries from The Post, the Navy recently confirmed that it has been reviewing the conduct of 440 other active-duty and retired personnel — including 60 current and former admirals — for possible violations of military law or federal ethics rules in their dealings with Francis and his company, Glenn Defense Marine Asia.
That is double the number of admirals whom Navy officials said were under investigation last year (The Navy has about 210 admirals on active duty).
Prostitutes, vacations and cash: The Navy officials ‘Fat Leonard’ took down View Graphic The caseload has grown as the Justice Department has given the Navy additional dossiers of individuals who did not meet the threshold for prosecution in civilian courts, but may have committed offenses under the military justice system, officials said.
The Navy’s handling of the cases has been largely opaque to the public. The Navy has identified only 10 of the 440 individuals who have come under military investigation and has divulged few details about their ties to Francis, even in cases that have been closed.
The vast majority of those under scrutiny are officers, according to the Navy. Officials said Francis targeted only a few enlisted sailors with his bribes.
Navy officials said revealing additional names or more information about their involvement could violate their privacy rights and compromise ongoing cases.
“The release of such information . . . would likely reveal sensitive details about the breadth and scope of the criminal investigation and pending cases,” Cmdr. Mike Kafka, a Navy spokesman, said in a statement.
So far, the Navy has charged five people with crimes — none of them admirals — under military law, charging documents show.
In addition, the Navy said it has determined that 40 people committed misconduct by violating ethics rules or other regulations. Their cases have been handled administratively, meaning they did not involve criminal charges.
In many instances, the Navy was prevented from taking tougher action because the statute of limitations under military law — five years for most felonies — had expired. The oldest matter reviewed so far dated to 1992, while most occurred between 2004 and 2010, according to a Navy official.
The official said the Navy has concluded that about half of those under review — 230 people — were not guilty of misconduct. Some were found to have had little or no contact with Francis. Many others attended dinners or accepted gifts, but the Navy determined that there were extenuating circumstances that excused their actions, said the official, who was authorized to speak only under the condition of anonymity.
Francis, 53, is in jail in San Diego as he awaits sentencing in federal court. He pleaded guilty in 2015 to bribing “scores” of Navy officials and defrauding the service of more than $35 million. One of his attorneys, Ethan Posner, declined to comment for this article.
Francis’s widespread overbilling of the Navy had been an open secret for years. In response to a flood of fraud complaints dating to 2006, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) opened more than two-dozen separate investigations into Glenn Defense, according to law-enforcement records.
Most of the cases went nowhere, NCIS files show. Starting in 2009, however, NCIS escalated its efforts by assigning more agents to investigate Francis. They later opened a full-blown corruption inquiry on suspicion that some Navy officials were feeding him military secrets and inside information about defense contracts.
‘Keep up the great work’
Despite being under the microscope, Francis was still able to rub shoulders with many of the Navy’s top leaders.
In September 2011, for example, he was invited to the Naval Academy in Annapolis to attend a change-of-command ceremony for the Navy’s highest-ranking officer.
During his visit, Francis posed for grip-and-grin photos with Adm. Jonathan W. Greenert, the new chief of naval operations, and the man he was replacing, Adm. Gary Roughead.
Leonard Glenn Francis (left), variously known within Navy circles as “Fat Leonard” and “Leonard the Legend,” with Adm. Gary Roughead, the outgoing chief of naval operations, at a change-of- command ceremony at the Naval Academy in Annapolis in September 2011. (Obtained by The Washington Post)
Roughead and Greenert both had encountered Francis during prior assignments in Asia and the Pacific. A Navy spokesman would not say whether they are among the 60 admirals under investigation; the names of most officers on the list have not been made public.
Roughead, who retired soon after the 2011 ceremony, said in an email that he couldn’t “recall particulars” about who was invited to the event. He declined further comment.
In an email, Greenert said he had not been contacted by investigators and did not know how Francis came to be invited to the ceremony. He said he, Roughead and their spouses spent hours in a receiving line and posed for several pictures.
Of the two admirals, Greenert’s previous contacts with Francis were more extensive, according to several individuals familiar with their relationship.
Greenert met the defense contractor in the late 1990s while serving as chief of staff for the Navy’s 7th Fleet, which covers most of Asia. Their interactions continued after Greenert was promoted to vice admiral and took command of the fleet in 2003.
While in command, Greenert attended at least three dinners with Francis, according to two former senior Navy officials.
In December 2005, Greenert mailed Francis a holiday greeting card featuring a sketch of the USS Blue Ridge, the 7th Fleet flagship, which the contractor had often visited as a distinguished guest.
“Leonard — See you soon I expect. Recognize the ship?” Greenert joked in a handwritten note wishing him “Good health & happiness in 2006.” A copy of the card was obtained by The Post.
Three months later, Greenert signed a letter on official stationery thanking Francis for the “superb services” his company provided to the Blue Ridge during several port visits in southeast Asia. “Over the years, the reputation of Glenn Marine remains exceptional,” the letter stated. “Keep up the great work.”
Adm. Jonathan W. Greenert (left) with Leonard Glenn Francis at the Naval Academy in Annapolis in September 2011, when Greenert took over as chief of naval operations. Greenert had known Francis for more than a decade. (Obtained by The Washington Post)
Francis treasured such letters, cards and photographs, which he promoted as proof of his close ties with the Navy’s senior leaders. Greenert posed for photographs with Francis on at least two other occasions: aboard the Blue Ridge in 2005 and at a ceremony in Hawaii in 2009, according to copies of the images obtained by The Post.
In his email to The Post, Greenert said it was not unusual for commanders to send correspondence to contractors acknowledging their “responsive and flexible” service. He also said he sent hundreds of official Christmas cards during his time as the 7th Fleet commander. He did not respond to questions about dinners he attended with Francis or his other interactions with the contractor.
Greenert’s relationship with Francis later became a sensitive issue for NCIS agents.
As the law-enforcement probes into Francis and his company heated up in 2013, NCIS officials deliberately kept Greenert, who by then was chief of naval operations, in the dark, according to two former senior Navy officials with direct knowledge of the case.
Even after Francis was arrested, NCIS officials excluded Greenert from briefings about the case, restricting their reports to a handful of Navy civilian leaders and Adm. Mark E. Ferguson III, who was then the vice chief of naval operations, according to the former senior officials.
King of photo-ops
In addition to Roughead and Greenert, Francis secured photo-ops with several other high-ranking admirals during his visit to the Naval Academy in 2011.
He also spent time in Annapolis with Vice Adm. Michael Miller, then the academy superintendent, who arranged for a personal tour of his official residence, Buchanan House, according to photographs obtained by The Post.
Leonard Glenn Francis (left) then-Rear Adm. Michael Miller on board the Glenn Braveheart in Singapore in 2006. Francis’s company purchased the former British warship and used it to escort vessels at sea, but also sometimes as a place to entertain U.S. Navy officers. (Obtained by The Washington Post)
In a statement, Miller confirmed the meeting but said he had “no knowledge” that Francis was under investigation at the time.
“Mr. Francis requested a tour of the Naval Academy. We would have supported that request as we do numerous visitors every year,” Miller said. He acknowledged that investigators had asked him about Francis’s visit, saying he was “completely forthcoming on this subject with the Navy.”
Miller said he did not invite Francis to the change-of-command ceremony. Two other Navy officials said the invitation probably came from the protocol office for the chief of naval operations, but did not know who put his name on the guest list.
The Navy later rebuked Miller with a formal letter of censure for failing to adequately reimburse Francis for lavish dinners and other gifts he received from the contractor years earlier when he commanded an aircraft carrier strike group in Asia. Miller retired from the Navy in 2015.
Four months after visiting Annapolis, Francis was a VIP guest at another Navy change-of-command ceremony: at the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
On that occasion, Francis posed for photographs with Adm. Cecil Haney, the new Pacific Fleet commander, and his predecessor, Adm. Patrick Walsh, according to copies of those images obtained by The Post.
Leonard Glenn Francis with Adm. Cecil Haney, the incoming commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, at a change-of-command ceremony in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii in January 2012. (Photos obtained by The Washington Post)
Francis (left) with Adm. Patrick Walsh, the outgoing Pacific Fleet commander, and his wife Andy Kaye Walsh at the 2012 Pearl Harbor ceremony.
Two former Navy officials who were present told The Post they were shocked to see Francis at the ceremony because the Pacific Fleet had been engaged in a years-long effort to tighten contract loopholes and sloppy billing practices that had enabled Glenn Defense to overcharge the Navy for millions of dollars.
They said they were even more surprised to see Francis afterward at a smaller, private party at Nimitz House, the official quarters for the Pacific Fleet commander.
In a statement, Haney said he didn’t invite Francis and didn’t know who he was before the ceremony.
“Any photo I took with him was most likely during the receiving line where I took numerous photos with so many in attendance that day,” Haney said. He indicated that he had spoken with investigators, saying: “I have been completely forthcoming of this subject with the Navy.”
In an interview, Walsh recalled Francis’s presence at Pearl Harbor that day but said he didn’t know who invited him.
“Leonard Francis had a way of showing up at all kinds of ceremonies,” said Walsh, who retired from the Navy in 2012.
Walsh said he was aware at the time that Francis was under scrutiny by the Pacific Fleet for his billing practices, but did not know that the contractor was also under criminal investigation by NCIS. He said investigators have not questioned him about his contacts with Francis.
Walsh said he first met Francis during a port visit in Malaysia in 2004 when he served as the commander of the USS John C. Stennis aircraft carrier strike group. He said Francis invited him to one of his famous dinners, but that he didn’t attend.
“I had a different set of priorities,” he said.
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5:23 PM GMT+0800
This was Obama's military - weakened & corrupt just as he was.
5:01 PM GMT+0800
Your use of "The 350-pound Francis" for this article is inappropriate. It is not relevant at all to this story, just as his hair color is not. I suspect it was used as a way to subtly confirm as obvious your accounts of gluttony, excess and greed. This reminds me of the non decried subtle racism of providing the race of a suspect in criminal news reporting....Well of course this investigation and story must be accurate, he weighs 350lbs doesn't he.
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2
KeyPop
5:23 PM GMT+0800
Personally, I was wondering why he is called Fat Leonard, and the article answered that question. It think the use of that description was necessary in this case...
4:41 PM GMT+0800
We need NCIS in charge of investigating URANIUM ONE, Hillary and Bill, Mueller, Comey, OBAMA, HOLDER, Rosenstein, Weissmann, Lynch... also go after the leakers and unmaskers like Rice, Ben Rhodes, Samantha Powers, Brennan , Clapper, et al. We now know Sessions is useless... no guts, no fire in the belly.
4:17 PM GMT+0800 [Edited]
I worry that the U.S. is not going to perform well if a real war kicks off, especially one against North Korea or China.
The Navy looks like a carnival in this article.
When I was in Afghanistan in the Army, in was almost impossible to get people focused on the fight. Basics were neglected, like maintaining weapons. No interest. I am really worried about the United States. With "leaders" like the fellas in this article, I wonder how long the U.S. can maintain its military status.
You may not have seen it, but check out the video of a U.S. sailor crying like a baby after he got captured by the Iranians in that lost boat incident. I am not sure if it made the U.S. news because it is some harrowing video. A grown man, a U.S. sailor, who is obviously a coward, balling his eyes out. What a disgrace. And now Fat Leonard and the thirty Admirals.
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2
.Morticia
4:24 PM GMT+0800
vet, you sound like a Russian troll
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jeff ingram
5:44 PM GMT+0800
Today it is hard to tell who is working for who. You used to think you were conversing with another American unless they indicated differently. Today you could be communicating with the head honcho of the St. Petersburg troll farm and not know it.
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repeatsitself
5:46 PM GMT+0800
Really?
Is that your best?
Surely you can throw in " Hillary won the popular vote" - which she fifty by the way...or maybe " hands up don't shoot" which is also a lie.
Surely you can do better than the tripe you posted?
4:04 PM GMT+0800
Our ethics instructor in grad school always finished up his lecture by saying don't do anything that you wouldn't want your momma to read in the morning paper. Seems like this message didn't get through to some high ranking armed forces officers.
3:51 PM GMT+0800
Don't worry folks! When all is said & done, I'm sure the Navy will find that some PO and his crew of seamen were responsible for it all.
3:37 PM GMT+0800
Corruption in the armed forces? I'm shocked I tell you, just shocked.
3:29 PM GMT+0800
With this scandal and all the ship collisions, will the US Navy have any admirals left to accelerate our lives?
3:00 PM GMT+0800 [Edited]
Back in the mid-'70's, we were transferred to Oahu by the USMC.
We didn't have housing immediately, so the military paid for a very nice hotel in Pearl City for a week or so.
But even back then, there was "corruption" ...or simple stealing.
This is how it worked...The military also paid for us to eat out 3X/day. So certain restaurants
would give the GI a fake receipt to fill out , claiming the meal cost $X amount of dollars, instead of the true amount.
Then the GI turned all meal receipts in for reimbursement . Since there were always transfers going on, and the receipts were on paper/hand-written, there was no oversight.
I'm assuming that unless someone put in a ridiculously high price, then the scheme worked.
The restaurant got repeat business and the GIs got extra reimbursement.
When we first newly arrived and were taken to one of these restaurants, we didn't know what happening until our "escort" (I forget official term) explained how it worked.
At the time, we decided not to go back there, but it was very popular. I don't think it's still going on, due to the intricate tracking of our every move now.
But back then.....it was pencil on paper, hand scribbled receipts ripped off a pad.
EDIT to add: the military paid to ship our car and household goods as well. Even enlisted housing had central AC, dishwasher, washer/dryer and lanai (sp) /patio. It was a new military housing complex
at that time....I'm wondering now how much corruption was involved in the construction, etc.
There's INCREDIBLE waste in the military too.
I was a witness to smaller stuff..but it all Adds Up, especially over decades.
So voting for a "stronger military" includes Contracts in nearly EVERY STATE to provide the
weapons/goods and services. That's why the "Yes" vote is big-partisan....each State gets a piece of the pie (jobs/contracts).
No wonder citizens instinctively know government/agencies/employees can be corrupted.
It can start with taking home a staple-gun.
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2:53 PM GMT+0800
60 admirals!
Now wonder the man was "Fat" from all that wining and dining.
What a huge scandal. The investigators must be astonished.
2:43 PM GMT+0800
I'm beginning to understand why the military needs millions of dollars more of our tax dollars.....so much has been lost to fraud. I'm also beginning to understand why the Navy has had two, major accidents in just this last year....other 'priorities'.
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8
hhodges1
5:13 PM GMT+0800 [Edited]
Well it's reassuring that the fraud is being detected and rooted out. Sadly, this fraud was possible via corruption of some senior officers who deserve severe punishment. What may be worse is the corruption that had to exist in the command chain and that it took so long to discover the scheme. Corruption is always possible when money is involved but there should be checks and balances to reveal the activity.
2:34 PM GMT+0800
Of course when POTASH learns of this story he will be offering 'Fat Leonard' a cabinet position as this is his kind of guy. Hopefully they will end up as cellmates one day!
2:29 PM GMT+0800
The Glenn Braveheart was not a warship as identified in the photo caption, but a fleet auxiliary logistics vessel.
2:10 PM GMT+0800
the big question is why do we have over 200 admirals?
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5
Leicester
2:12 PM GMT+0800
Because there are more than 320,000 active duty members of the U.S. Navy. It's big.
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18Z5
2:38 PM GMT+0800
In WWII we had approx. 3 million in the Navy, we had around 200 Admirals. Now we have 320,000 and have 200 Admirals! Same deal with the other services, it's because of the careerism that runs the Officer corps. You need more positions for people to move into.
2:06 PM GMT+0800
No wonder the Navy can't steer their ships without ramming into other vessels. The Captains are all hung over from partying with Fat Leonard.
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