The Navy, Venezuela and $50m: Who is ‘Fat Leonard’, the fugitive behind historic military corruption case?

Leonard Glenn Francis set to be sentenced for bribing scores of Navy officials after Venezuela included him in prisoner swap with White House, writes Graeme Massie

When Venezuela agreed to release 10 Americans as part of Joe Biden’s latest international prisoner swap, there was also another high-profile name included in the deal.

Infamous fugitive “Fat Leonard” was included in the swap and handed over to US officials in return for alleged money launderer Alex Saab, an ally of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro.

Now 15 months after fleeing to the South American country to avoid sentencing in the US, Leonard Glenn Francis is behind bars in Miami.

Here is everything we know about Fat Leonard:

Leonard Glenn Francis, 59, is a Malaysian citizen who escaped US custody last year, just days before he was set to be sentenced for the biggest military corruption case in American history.

Francis was the owner of Singapore-based Glenn Defense Marine Asia, a company that had $250m in US defence contracts to service and resupply US Navy ships across the region.

This undated photo provided by the US Marshals Service shows Leonard Francis. (AP)

He earned his nickname from US sailors as he weighed around 500 pounds before gastric bypass surgery saw him slim down to around 350 pounds.

Bribing Navy officers with champagne and cigars

Francis told investigators that for more than 20 years he entertained Navy officers and luxurious restaurants in cities across Asia, including Bangkok, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur and Sydney.

Prosecutors say that in return, Navy officials did not intervene as he overcharged the Navy for fuel, water, sewage services and ship repairs. In total, US taxpayers were defrauded out of around $50m.

Court papers state that Francis bribed officers with prostitutes, with at least 10 Navy sailors leaking him information about the movements of ships in the region.

NCIS investigation and arrest

Naval investigators began to probe Francis in 2010, with the businessman having bribed an investigator to leak him information.

In September 2013, he was lured to San Diego, California, to a fake meeting with Navy contracting officials where he was arrested at the city’s Marriott Marquis hotel.

Francis pleaded guilty to fraud, bribery and conspiracy in January 2015 and admitted to defrauding the Navy of $35m. The Justice Department says that the figure was around $50m.

Pedestrians walk near a poster asking for the freedom of Colombian businessman and Venezuelan special envoy Alex Saab, in Caracas, Venezuela, 9 September 2021. (AP)

He agreed to cooperate with prosecutors and provide evidence against 600 members of the Navy.

More than 30 individuals have pleaded guilty to crimes in federal court, while the Navy has court-martialed five sailors, and disciplined seven admirals.

Skips the US and flees to Venezuela

In 2018, Francis convinced a court that he was terminally ill with kidney cancer and was released to home detention.

While awaiting sentencing in 2022, he cut off a GPS transmitter fitted to his ankle and crossed the Mexican border. He then flew from Mexico to Cuba, but when officials refused to let him stay in the country he moved on to Venezuela.

After 16 days on the run, he was arrested by Venezuelan officials at the international airport in Caracas. He was imprisoned and applied for asylum in Venezuela and Russia on humanitarian grounds.

Returned to the US and now facing justice

According to The Washington Post, Francis believed that he was set to be given his freedom by Venezuela.

Instead, he was flown on a jet from Caracas to the island of Canouan in the Caribbean where he and the other 10 American prisoners were handed over to US officials.

Francis was then transported to Miami, where he was locked up in federal prison, according to the Bureau of Prisons.

He is expected to be taken back to San Diego where he will be sentenced to nine years behind bars.