The U.S.
Justice Department released the below information:
A former U.S. Navy
Commander was sentenced today to 30 months in prison, followed by three years
of supervised release, a $10,000 fine and $21,625.60 in restitution by the
Honorable Janis L. Sammartino of the U.S. District Court for the Southern
District of California. The case relates to a wide-ranging corruption and
fraud investigation involving foreign defense contractor Leonard Glenn Francis
and his Singapore-based company, Glenn Defense Marine Asia (GDMA).
Assistant Attorney
General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and
U.S. Attorney Adam L. Braverman for the Southern District of California, made
the announcement.
Earlier this year, Troy
Amundson, 51, of Ramsey, Minnesota pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to
commit bribery, admitting that he conspired with Francis and others to receive
things of value in exchange for taking official acts for the benefit of GDMA
and violating his official duties to the U.S. Navy. Francis pleaded
guilty in 2015 to bribery and fraud charges.
According to
admissions made as part of his guilty plea, from May 2005 to May 2013, Amundson
served as the officer responsible for coordinating the U.S. Navy’s joint
military exercises with its foreign navy counterparts. As part of his
duties, Amundson was responsible for building and maintaining cooperative
relationships with the U.S. Navy’s foreign navy exercise partners.
Amundson admitted that from September 2012 through October 2013, Francis paid
for dinner, drinks, transportation, other entertainment expenses, and the
services of prostitutes for Amundson and other U.S. Navy officers, in return
for sensitive information, such as U.S. Navy ship schedules, and for taking
other actions in favor of GDMA and in violation of his official duties.
Amundson further admitted that after being interviewed by federal
criminal investigators in October 2013, he deleted e-mail correspondence with
Francis.
So far, 33 defendants have been charged and 21 have pleaded guilty, many admitting to accepting things of value from Francis in exchange for helping the contractor win and maintain contracts and overbill the Navy by millions of dollars.
The investigation is
being conducted by the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, Naval Criminal
Investigative Service and Defense Contract Audit Agency. The case is
being prosecuted by Assistant Chief Brian R. Young of the Criminal Division’s
Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mark W. Pletcher and Patrick
Hovakimian of the Southern District of California.
You can also read my
Counterterrorism magazine piece on the Fat Leonard case via the below link:
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