Topline
A Malaysian contractor known as “Fat Leonard”, who conned the U.S. military out of tens of millions of dollars and sat at the center of a sprawling corruption scheme, has been arrested in Venezuela after fleeing house arrest earlier this month, officials announced, the latest chapter in one of the biggest scandals of its kind in U.S. military history.
‘Fat Leonard’ was captured in Caracas after escaping house arrest.
Key Facts
Leonard Glenn Francis was arrested by Venezuelan authorities at Caracas airport Tuesday morning, Venezuela’s Interpol chief Carlos Garate Rondon said in a statement posted on Instagram.
The arrest, which was confirmed by the U.S. Marshals Service, came on the eve Francis was due to be sentenced in federal court after pleading guilty to a sprawling bribery scheme that implicated dozens of U.S. Navy officers.
Francis was arrested while preparing to travel onwards to Russia after entering Venezuela from Mexico via a stopover in Cuba, Rondon said.
He was detained under an Interpol “red notice” issued by U.S. authorities, which asks law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest someone with a view to possible extradition.
Francis will be handed over to Venezuelan authorities to begin extradition procedures, the Interpol chief added.
Key Background
Francis was arrested in 2013 and pleaded guilty in 2015 to offering $500,000, prostitution services and luxury hotels and meals in bribes to officers to funnel work towards his shipyards. It has been a costly and embarrassing saga for the U.S. Navy. More than 30 officers and contractors have been convicted or pleaded guilty to corruption charges linked with the scheme, including the first active-duty admiral convicted for a federal crime, and prosecutors say it cost the Navy at least $35 million. Francis was allowed to live under house arrest due to poor health, including kidney cancer, but he escaped just weeks before he was due to be sentenced in federal court in early September. The incident raised questions over how his case was handled by law enforcement agencies and Francis managed not only to flee after cutting off his GPS ankle bracelet but also pack up a rented van with his belongings as well. Officials conceded it was likely he had crossed the U.S.-Mexico border and said it was possible he would try to return to Asia.
What We Don’t Know
There was no word on when Francis might be extradited to the U.S. Extradition can sometimes be a complicated process that can take months or even years and can involve serious, occasionally fractious, negotiations between governments.
Further Reading
Whiskey, Kobe beef and suckling pig: inside the ‘Fat Leonard’ navy bribery scandal (Guardian)
Fugitive in massive Navy bribery case caught in Venezuela (AP)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2022/09/22/navy-bribery-mastermind-fat-leonard-arrested-in-venezuela-after-fleeing-us-house-arrest/