The Virginia-class submarine USS Hawaii (SSN 776) pulls alongside the submarine tender USS Frank Cable (AS 40) in the Philippines on Sept. 7, 2012.
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A former military contractor involved in a US Navy corruption scandal fled house arrest.
Leonard Glenn Francis was awaiting sentencing when he cut his ankle bracelet, a local newspaper reported.
The Malaysian national known as “Fat Leonard” pleaded guilty in 2015 to conspiracy to commit bribery.
A former military contractor who pleaded guilty in one of the US Navy’s worst corruption scandals has fled house arrest while waiting to be sentenced, officials said.
Leonard Glenn Francis, also known as “Fat Leonard,” cut off his GPS monitoring ankle bracelet and left his San Diego home at some point Sunday morning, Supervisory Deputy US Marshal Omar Castillo told the San Diego Union-Tribune.
“As of now, Leonard Francis is wanted for violating the conditions of his pretrial release,” US Marshals Service San Diego tweeted early Tuesday morning. A slew of federal law enforcement agencies — including the Marshals — are searching for him.
—USMS San Diego (@USMSSanDiego) September 6, 2022
The Union-Tribune reported that a federal agency monitoring Francis was alerted to an “anomaly” with his tracking device, and his defense team went to check up on him. When Francis didn’t respond, his defense team called local police on Sunday afternoon, who entered the home only to find it empty along with the tracking device.
In the days leading up to the escape, neighbors said they noticed moving trucks at Francis’ home, the newspaper reported. Castillo said Francis “was planning this out, that’s for sure.”
Neither the US Marshals Service nor the California Southern Pretrial Services — the agency monitoring Francis — could be immediately reached by Insider for comment. An attorney representing Francis also did not respond to a request for comment, nor did the US Attorney’s office.
Francis, a Malaysian national, was three weeks away from being sentenced for his role in a sprawling corruption scandal involving dozens of people, including many US Navy officers, when he fled. His Singapore-based contracting firm, Glen Defense Marine Asia, serviced Navy ships in ports across Southeast Asia, the Union-Tribune reported.
Prosecutors say Francis tried to bribe Navy officials with hundreds of thousands of dollars in exchange for classified information and work opportunities for his firm, NBC reported, and that he overcharged the Navy by over $35 million for services.
Francis was arrested in 2013 and pleaded guilty two years later for conspiring to commit bribery, according to court documents reviewed by Insider.