I first highlighted about the Fat Leonard-US Navy corruption scandal in Parliament on 25 November 2013.
This was dubbed by the international press as the biggest corruption scandal in the US Navy in recent history. It was charged that since 2011, Fat Leonard or his real name, Leonard Glenn Francis’ company, Glenn Defence Marine Asia (GDMA), was awarded contracts worth USD 200 million by the US Navy.
According to the Star, Fat Leonard’s modus operandi includes diverting Navy’s ships in the region to what was called “pearl ports” such as Phuket in Thailand or Port Klang in Malaysia. The meaning of “pearl ports” as given by the said report is, ports “where it would be easier to fake invoices and jack up charges”.
My earlier search revealed that GDMA did have operations in Port Klang and a company under the Glenn Marine Group was operating a cruise terminal in the port, the Port Klang Cruise Centre. The company went into receivership in 2014. (Source: http://www.thesundaily.my/news/1122699).
Fat Leonard pleaded guilty in the USA for corruption charges in January 2015.
3 admirals resigned, 11 current and former US Navy officials facing charges, 7 pleaded guilty in the USA, and 1 charged in Singapore
The Fat Leonard scandal is wide ranging and over 200 people including top US Navy officials – as many as 30 admirals – were being investigated. So far, it has resulted in 11 current and former US Navy officials facing charges, seven who have since pleaded guilty including a one-star admiral and a captain. (Source: https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/344761)
A former Navy official was also arrested and charged with the same corruption crime by the Singaporean authority. (Source: http://www.stripes.com/news/another-former-navy-official-arrested-in-fat-leonard-bribery-case-1.381675)
At least three Navy admirals were forced to resign in Summer of 2015 in relation to the case. (Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/three-us-admirals-censured-in-fat-leonard-corruption-probe/2015/07/17/7f29ca1a-2b1f-11e5-a5ea-cf74396e59ec_story.html)
Malaysian ports were implicated in US court documents
US court documents showed that Fat Leonard “and his co-conspirators submitted and caused to be submitted to the US Navy fraudulent representations related to Port Tariff Items, including… fraudulent representations about the true identity of the bona fide port authority”
It was also revealed that Fat Leonard created sham companies or used contractors to falsely represent them to the US Navy to be port authorities; “including (1) Lumut, Malaysia: SW Maritime Sdn. Bhd. and (2) Sepangar, Malaysia: MY Maritime Network”. He also submitted fraudulent “inflated invoices purporting to be from legitimate port authorities, including (1) Langkawi: Star Cruises Langkawi Cruise Centre Sdn. Bhd.”…
This clearly shows the failure in managing and enforcing laws in our ports resulted in the ports becoming centres for criminal syndicates to conduct fraud.
In 2012, the then Defence Minister, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, now Deputy Prime Minister-cum-Home Minister boasted that the visit of USS George Washington to Port Klang was to improve diplomatic and military cooperations between the two countries.
However, it was revealed by investigations that the docking of USS George Washington was really part of Fat Leonard’s illicit money-making scheme. The ship was originally scheduled to visit Singapore but was instead redirected to Port Klang, “one of Fat Leonard’s “preferred ports where his company submitted fake contractor bids”. (Source: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/feds-navy-secrets-bought-hookers-gaga-tix)
The then Deputy Defence Minister, Abdul Latiff Ahmad, also said that the visit of USS George Washington offered economic opportunities for Malaysia.
It is now clear that it was really “economic opportunities” for Fat Leonard.
The US investigation is also working with authorities from different countries such as Singapore and Thailand on this matter.
Four questions for Malaysia
In light of the massive corruption scandal, I have four questions for the Malaysian government:
- Were there any Malaysian government officials especially port officials involved in this scandal?
- A former TLDM chief who later retired as the chief of the Malaysian Armed Forces had served on the board of GDMA and its related companies; were there any undue influences or abuse of power in relation to Fat Leonard’s businesses in Malaysia?
- The Malaysian Navy or Tentera Laut Diraja Malaysia (TLDM) was also a client of GDMA. Did Fat Leonard use the same modus operandi on TLDM officials?
- The arrival of USS George Washington in 2012 was heralded by no less the then Defence Minister and his Deputy. It is now clear that the visit involved corruption and abuse of power. Were any Malaysian officials including the Defense Minister involved?
I have highlighted these questions since 2013 both inside and outside the Parliament but the government has chosen to keep quiet on this matter. This is a highly sensitive case considering it involves defense and national security. With the massive investigation going on in the US and elsewhere, it is time the Malaysian government come out to give an answer to these critical questions.