‘Fat Leonard’ scandal widens, with indictment of three more retired US Navy officials
Former sailors charged with accepting cash bribes, gifts, prostitutes and more from Malaysian defence contractor
The worst corruption scandal in navy history escalated on Friday as federal prosecutors announced bribery and fraud charges against three retired sailors, including an officer who allegedly took part in a wild two-day party with prostitutes in Tokyo that cost US$75,000.
A grand jury in San Diego indicted retired Captain David Haas, 50, of Kailua, Hawaii, on charges that he took US$145,000 in bribes from Leonard Glenn Francis, a Singapore-based defence contractor known as “Fat Leonard” in navy circles.
Indicted separately on fraud charges were Ricarte Icmat David, 61, a retired master chief petty officer who now lives in the Philippines, and Brooks Alonzo Parks, 46, a retired chief petty officer who lives in Naples, Italy, according to the Justice Department.
As of Friday, none of the defendants had made a court appearance and it was unclear whether they had hired any lawyers. It was also unclear whether David or Parks would voluntarily return to the United States to face charges or whether federal officials would have to seek their extradition.
Federal investigators have been scrutinising Haas’ conduct since the corruption scandal became public five years ago.
Soon after Francis was arrested in a sting operation in San Diego in September 2013, navy officials announced that Haas had been suspended from his military duties and placed under criminal investigation by the Justice Department. But authorities provided no further updates on his case until Friday. Haas retired from the navy in September 2016 and now works for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, according to his LinkedIn profile.