The
largest corruption scandal in United States Navy history has claimed a
high-ranking officer following a guilty plea from a commander who once
controlled the service’s joint military exercises.
Former US Navy Cmdr. Troy Amundson, 50,
admitted taking bribes, including accepting the services of several
prostitutes, from foreign contractor Leonard Glenn Francis, known as
“Fat Leonard,” and his Singapore-based company, Glenn Defense Marine
Asia. He is the second high-ranking officer to be indicted over the
scandal
In exchange, he sent US Navy business to
the company, according to a statement from the US Attorney Office in San
Diego, California. “Amundson admitted that from September 2012 through
October 2013, Francis paid for dinner, drinks, transportation, other
entertainment expenses, and the services of prostitutes for Amundson and
other US Navy officers,” the US attorney’s statement said.
The “Fat Leonard” investigation began in
2013, and so far 20 of 29 defendants charged have pleaded guilty.
Francis, whose nickname comes from his then 400-pound heft, admitted
bribery and fraud charges in 2015.
Amundson, of Ramsey, Minnesota, was
responsible for coordinating exercises with foreign navies from May 2005
to May 2013, according to the US Attorney’s statement. He pleaded
guilty Tuesday to one count of conspiracy to commit bribery.
After he was interviewed by federal
investigators in October 2013, Amundson deleted all correspondence
between himself and Francis from his private email account, the
statement said.
In one of those emails, Amundson promised to give proprietary US Navy information to Francis, prosecutors said.
“Handoff?… (My friend), your program is
awesome. I (Amundson) am a small dog just trying to get a bone… however I
am very happy with my small program.
I still need five minutes to pass some
data when we can meet up. Cannot print,” Amundson wrote, according to
the US attorney’s statement.
Shortly after that email was sent,
Francis arranged for several prostitutes from Mongolia to be sent to
Amundson, prosecutors said. 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,” US
Attorney Adam Braverman said in the statement. Amundson’s sentencing in
scheduled for April 27. He faces up to five years in prison and a
$250,000 fine.
Along with prostitutes, Francis and his
company provided scores of US Navy officers with tens of millions of
dollars in bribes, including cash, luxury travel, Cuban cigars, Kobe
beef and Spanish suckling pigs, prosecutors said. In exchange the US
Navy officials steered ships to ports where Francis’ company operated,
providing service such as fuel and tugboats.
In March 2017, acting US Attorney Alana
Robinson described the “Fat Leonard” scandal as “fleecing and betrayal
of the United States Navy in epic proportions, (which) was allegedly
carried out by the Navy’s highest-ranking officers.” The scandal has
touched on capitals and ports across the Pacific, including Singapore,
Tokyo, Bangkok and Manila.
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