KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 6 — Leonard Glenn Francis, the Malaysian military contractor who was placed under house arrest after pleading guilty to masterminding the worst public corruption scandal in US Navy history, is reportedly on the run.
Francis, who is also known by the nickname “Fat Leonard”, cut off his GPS monitoring ankle bracelet on Sunday morning, Supervisory Deputy US Marshal Omar Castillo was reported as saying by The San Diego Tribune.
He was reportedly set to be sentenced later this month on September 22.
“He was planning this out, that’s for sure,” Castillo was quoted as saying, adding that neighbours had seen moving trucks going in and out of Francis’ home in previous days.
San Diego police officers found his house empty, leading to the US Marshals Office being notified at 2pm yesterday, which activated the San Diego Regional Fugitive Task Force and began a high-profile manhunt, he reportedly said.
He reportedly added that law enforcement agencies will be notified to be on the lookout while alerts will be placed at international borders and airports.
However, he reportedly admitted that Francis may have already crossed into Mexico.
Francis reportedly pleaded guilty in 2015 to charges he provided US Navy officers with cash, gifts and sex workers in exchange for classified information about where ships were scheduled to dock.
It was said he would then treat his targets with expensive gifts for their spouses and paid for a week-long holiday trip to Singapore and Malaysia for one of their families.
He allegedly did all of this so he could “prod his moles” on the Blue Ridge, the US Navy’s “floating headquarters in Asia”, to send other aircraft carrier and vessels to ports controlled by his Singapore-based company Glenn Defence Marine Asia.
He also reportedly persuaded these officers to divert other US-based vessels to his ports just so he could overcharge for fuel, supplies and other services.
Due to health issues, Francis was released on medical furlough and placed on house arrest since 2018, under the supervision of Pretrial Services, a federal agency in the US that keeps an eye defendants who are out of custody until sentencing.
He had been reportedly working as a cooperating witness for federal prosecutors who were building cases against others involved in the scandal while he was on home confinement.
According to news reports, US Navy standards dictate that officers were only allowed to accept gifts that are worth US$20 (RM77.76) or less or with a cap of not more than US$50 (RM194.40) a year from one person or entity.
