Navy commander arrested in massive bribes-for-secrets case
By Richard L. Cassin | Friday, February 17, 2017 at 8:08AM
A serving U.S. Navy Commander became the seventeenth individual charged in the Navy's worst corruption scandal in modern times. Mario Herrera, 48, of Helotes, Texas was charged in a complaint unsealed Thursday.
He allegedly took expensive travel and meals and the services of prostitutes from Leonard Glenn Francis in exchange for classified U.S. Navy information.
Francis -- also known as Fat Leonard -- is the former CEO of Glenn Defense Marine Asia (GDMA), a defense contractor based in Singapore. The Malaysian national, 51, pleaded guilty to bribing scores of U.S. Navy officials with travel, meals, cash, electronics, parties, and prostitutes. He's waiting to be sentenced.
His company provided port services to U.S. Navy ships in Asia. As part of his plea agreement, Francis admitted over-billing the Navy more than $35 million on contracts to stock and clean ships.
Herrera was arrested in San Antonio, Texas Thursday morning and charged with one count of conspiracy to commit bribery. He's expected to appear in federal court in San Diego, where the Fat Leonard cases are being heard.
According to the complaint, Herrera helped steer U.S. Navy contracts to Francis and GDMA. He gave Francis internal, proprietary U.S. Navy information and intervened on GDMA’s behalf in contract disputes, the DOJ said.
"Herrera directed ships to take alternative routes that benefited GDMA on two separate occasions, costing the U.S. Navy $3.6 million," according to the DOJ.
Of the 17 individuals charged in the case, 13 have pleaded guilty.
Eleven defendants are current or former Navy officers. They include an admiral, two captains, four commanders, two lieutenant commanders, a former NCIS special agent, and a petty officer.
In addition to Fat Leonard, four other executives from his company have been charged -- Alex Wisidagama, Ed Aruffo, Neil Peterson, and Linda Raja.
Wisidagama pleaded guilty and was sentenced in March to 63 months in prison and $34.8 million in restitution to the Navy. Aruffo has pleaded guilty and is waiting to be sentenced. Peterson and Raja were extradited from Singapore to the United States. Their cases are pending.
Other current or former U.S. Navy officials charged in the case include:
- Admiral Robert Gilbeau (pleaded guilty)
- Lt. Commander Gentry Debord (sentenced to 30 months in prison)
- Commander Bobby Pitts (awaiting trial)
- Captain Michael Brooks (pleaded guilty)
- Captain Daniel Dusek (sentenced to 46 months in prison)
- Commander Michael Misiewicz (sentenced to 78 months in prison)
- Lt. Commander Todd Malaki (sentenced to 40 months in prison)
- Commander Jose Luis Sanchez (pleaded guilty)
- Former NCIS Supervisory Special Agent John Beliveau II (sentenced to 144 months in prison)
- Petty Officer First Class Daniel Layug (sentenced to 27 in prison), and
- Paul Simpkins, a former DoD civilian employee who oversaw Navy contracting in Singapore (sentenced to 72 months in prison).
Three other Rear Admirals including the commander of naval forces in Japan retired in 2015 after the Secretary of the Navy censured them for the Fat Leonard scandal. - See more at: http://www.fcpablog.com/blog/2017/2/17/navy-commander-arrested-in-massive-bribes-for-secrets-case.html#sthash.gug2zSGs.dpuf
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, February 16, 2017
Navy Commander Charged as Part of Corrupt “Brotherhood” that Accepted Luxury Travel and Prostitutes from Foreign Defense Contractor
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mark W. Pletcher (619) 546-9714 and Patrick Hovakimian (619) 546-9718
NEWS RELEASE SUMMARY – February 16, 2017
SAN DIEGO – U.S. Navy
Commander Mario Herrera was charged in a complaint unsealed today with
accepting prostitutes, luxury travel, elaborate dinners and $1,800
steaks from foreign defense contractor Leonard Glenn Francis in exchange
for classified and internal U.S. Navy information.
Herrera, the 12th
U.S. Navy official to be charged so far, was arrested in San Antonio,
Texas this morning and is scheduled to make his initial appearance in
federal court in the Western District of Texas. The United States will
seek removal of Herrera to San Diego to face charges.
According to the complaint,
Herrera received bribes in return for sending U.S. Navy ship schedules
and other proprietary information to Francis, sometimes through U.S.
Navy Commander Jose Luis Sanchez, who was among the first officers
charged in the massive bribery and fraud case in 2013. Sanchez pleaded
guilty to bribery charges in January 2015 and awaits sentencing.
Hererra, Sanchez and other
U.S. Navy 7th Fleet officers who were committed to doing the bidding of
Francis in exchange for prostitutes and other perks called themselves
the “Band of Brothers” and the “Wolf Pack,” the complaint said. In one
email, Sanchez asked Francis to send pictures of prostitutes, saying
“the brothers are ready to indulge.” A few days later in another email,
Sanchez thanked Francis for the prostitutes and hotel accommodations
during a port stop in Manila, Philippines: “A warm thank you from the
brotherhood…we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and had a great time.”
The complaint also alleges
that Herrera made recommendations within the Navy to benefit Francis’
company, Glenn Defense Marine Asia, including on several occasions
manipulating the movement of U.S. Navy ships and diverting them to ports
financially lucrative to Francis. GDMA is a multinational corporation
and longtime government contractor based in Singapore, which provides
hundreds of millions of dollars of “husbanding” services for the U.S.
Navy in at least a dozen countries throughout the Pacific. Husbanding
involves supplying food, water, fuel, tugboats and fenders, security,
transportation, trash and liquid waste removal, and other goods and
services to ships and submarines in foreign ports.
So far, a total of 17 named
individual defendants have been charged in connection with the GDMA
corruption and fraud investigation. Of those, 12 are current or former
U.S. Navy officials, including Herrera, Sanchez, Admiral Robert Gilbeau,
believed to be the first active-duty U.S. Navy flag officer charged in a
federal criminal case; Captain (ret.) Michael Brooks; Captain Daniel
Dusek; Commander Michael Misiewicz; Commander Bobby Pitts; Lt. Commander
Gentry Debord; Lt. Commander Todd Malaki; Petty Officer First Class
Daniel Layug; Naval Criminal Investigative Service Supervisory Special
Agent John Beliveau; and Paul Simpkins, a former DoD civilian employee,
who oversaw contracting in Singapore.
Gilbeau, Brooks, Dusek,
Misiewicz, Sanchez, Debord, Malaki, Layug, Beliveau, and Simpkins have
pleaded guilty. On Jan. 21, 2016, Layug was sentenced to 27 months in
prison and a $15,000 fine; on Jan. 29, 2016, Malaki was sentenced to 40
months in prison and to pay $15,000 in restitution to the Navy and a
$15,000 fine. On March 25, 2016, Dusek was sentenced to 46 months in
prison and to pay $30,000 in restitution to the Navy and a $70,000 fine;
and on April 29, 2016, Misiewicz was sentenced to 78 months in prison
and to pay a fine of $100,000 and to pay $95,000 in restitution to the
Navy. Beliveau was sentenced on October 14, 2016 to 12 years in prison
and to pay $20 million in restitution; Simpkins was sentenced on
December 2, 2016 to 72 months in prison; Gilbeau, Brooks, and Sanchez
await sentencing.
Pitts was charged in May 2016 and his case is pending.
Also charged are five GDMA
executives – Francis, Alex Wisidagama, Ed Aruffo, Neil Peterson and
Linda Raja. Three have pleaded guilty; Wisidagama was sentenced on March
18, 2016 to 63 months and $34.8 million in restitution to the Navy.
Francis and Aruffo await sentencing; Peterson and Raja were extradited
from Singapore in September 2016 and their cases are pending.
The Defense Criminal
Investigative Service, Naval Criminal Investigative Service, and the
Defense Contract Audit Agency are investigating. Assistant U.S.
Attorneys Mark W. Pletcher and Patrick Hovakimian of the Southern
District of California and Assistant Chief Brian R. Young of the
Criminal Division’s Fraud Section are prosecuting the case.
Anyone with information
relating to fraud or corruption should contact the NCIS anonymous tip
line at www.ncis.navy.mil or the DOD Hotline at www.dodig.mil/hotline,
or call (800) 424-9098.
DEFENDANT Case Number: 17mj0424
Lieutenant Commander Mario Herrera Age 48 Helotes, Texas
SUMMARY OF CHARGES
Conspiracy to Commit Bribery, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371
Maximum Penalty: 5 years in prison, a $250,000 fine,
INVESTIGATING AGENCIES
Defense Criminal Investigative Service
Naval Criminal Investigative Service
Defense Contract Audit Agency