Fat Leonard scandal: Fugitive in massive Navy bribery case caught in Venezuela
Source: Associated Press
Fugitive in massive Navy bribery case caught in Venezuela
September 22, 2022
SAN DIEGO (AP) — A Malaysian defense contractor nicknamed “Fat Leonard” who orchestrated one of the largest bribery scandals in U.S. military history has been arrested in Venezuela after fleeing before his sentencing, authorities said Wednesday.
The international manhunt for Leonard Glenn Francis ended with his arrest by Venezuelan authorities Tuesday morning at the Caracas airport as he was about to board an airplane for another country, the U.S. Marshals Service said.
Interpol Venezuela Director General Carlos Garate Rondon said in a statement posted on Instagram that Francis came to Venezuela from Mexico. Rondon said he was headed to Russia.
The arrest came on the eve of his scheduled sentencing in a federal court in California for a bribery scheme that lasted more than a decade and involved dozens of U.S. Navy officers.
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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/venezuela-arrests-california-united-states-577813b7045b7f220c71e460b34af4de
FILE - This undated photo provided by the U.S. Marshals Service shows Leonard Francis. The Malaysian defense contractor nicknamed “Fat Leonard," who orchestrated one of the largest bribery scandals in U.S. military history, has been arrested in Venezuela after fleeing before his sentencing, authorities said Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022. (Courtesy of U.S. Marshals Service via AP, File)