Leonard Glenn Francis may soon find himself jailed in the United States on charges that he has defrauded the U.S. military of huge sums of money. This would be a far cry from the 70,000 square foot home he currently resides in in Singapore.
It is believed that Mr. Francis used prostitutes, holiday retreats, and concert tickets to bribe a U.S. Navy Commander into giving away state secrets. Mr. Francis is the owner of Glenn Defense Marine Asia, a Singapore-based company that provides services to docking Navy ships. If a Navy ship is in need of supplies, trash removal, or anything else, GDMA will help to provide services.
Mr. Francis is accused of defrauding the military of millions of dollars by having ships directed to “Pearl Ports” in Thailand and elsewhere across S.E. Asia. Due to lax checking and less stringent requirements in these ports, Mr. Francis’s company was allegedly able to charge false invoices and fees to the U.S. Navy. The company even created false tariffs by setting up a false Port authority.
Francis deal with Michael Misiewicz
Mr. Francis, however, needed to know when U.S. Navy ships would be heading to such ports, and wanted to have ships directed there. As such, he set up a deal with U.S. Navy Commander Michael Vannak Khem Misiewicz. Mr. Francis would supply Commander Misiewicz with prostitutes, holiday trips, and other benefits. In exchange, Misiewicz would inform Mr. Francis of ship movements and even redirect ships to certain ports, such as Phuket in Thailand.
Mr. Francis has been working with Misiewicz since at least 2011. In one case, Misiewicz had a super carrier redirected from Singapore to Klang where it reloaded on supplies. GDMA then charged the company some $1.8 million dollars in fees. In exchange, Mr. Francis flew Misiewicz and his family to Cambodia for a relative’s wedding and even got him Lady Gaga tickets.
Francis under investigation
Even before Misiewicz became involved, Mr. Francis was under investigation. The U.S. Navy noticed numerous irregularities in costs and billing, all of them tied to GDMA. The Navy had begun to investigate the situation as early as 2010. Yet Mr. Francis was able to stay a step ahead because he had already bribed off a senior NCIS officer, John Bertrand Beliveau II, who kept him up to date on developing situations and supplied illegal documents.
The case has finally come to light, however, and Mr. Francis was arrested while on a business trip in the United States. Now, the scope of the investigation is widening and it is believed that several more senior officers may ultimately be caught up in the investigation. The case is also rippling through the Navy and forcing it to reevaluate its supply and spending procedures.
