PHUKET: Extraordinary details of the ''Fat Leonard'' Glenn Defense scandal are gradually surfacing with one US admiral losing a star for his part.
In Thailand, Phuket became a favored port for scams and rip-offs said to total $20 million.
Lavish parties and questionable gifts accepted by Navy leaders while the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan was deployed in Asia in 2006 and 2007 have been revealed in the latest information, the San Diego Union Tribune reports.
The Ronald Reagan visited Phuket in 2009.
Events revealed by freedom of information requests undertaken by the newspaper and other media organisations provided surprising disclosures mixed with censured material. Some documents requested were not released.
The newspaper reports that the details revealed are eye-opening, putting numbers on the way Navy leaders allowed Malaysian defense contractor Leonard Francis to insinuate himself in their good graces.
For instance, the newspaper reports, in February 2006 in Singapore, now-Captain David Pimpo, deprived of his admiral's star, attended a dinner at the exclusive JAAN restaurant, a French bistro with sweeping views of the city and a menu offering five and seven-course meals.
According to the censure letter, Pimpo paid $50 for the dinner, though the actual cost was more like $769 per person.
The other two dinners mentioned were at the French restaurant Petrus at Hong Kong's Island Shangri-La hotel, and Spoon, a gourmet French restaurant at Hong Kong's InterContinental hotel.
The website for Petrus promises guests will ''dine in an opulent, elegant atmosphere accentuated by rich draperies, impressionist oil paintings and crystal chandeliers'' overlooking Hong Kong's Victoria Harbor.
Pimpo apparently told Navy investigators that he wasn't ''savvy enough'' to know the difference between a $50 dinner and a $500 dinner.
The letter from Navy Secretary Ray Mabus chastens Pimpo by saying, ''As a supply officer with 20 years of service at the time, you knew or should have known that $50 per person was not the market value of these extravagant dinner parties.''
Censure letters to other US Navy high-ups have also been published at sandiegouniontribune.com
Francis, a hefty larger-than-life character, has pleaded guilty in San Diego federal court on several counts. His ship services company, Glenn Defense Marine Asia, is accused of bilking the Navy out of $20 million.
Phuket and Port Klang in Malaysia have been previously reported as the destinations for warships that Francis preferred because overbilling was easier there.
In Thailand, Phuket became a favored port for scams and rip-offs said to total $20 million.
Lavish parties and questionable gifts accepted by Navy leaders while the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan was deployed in Asia in 2006 and 2007 have been revealed in the latest information, the San Diego Union Tribune reports.
The Ronald Reagan visited Phuket in 2009.
Events revealed by freedom of information requests undertaken by the newspaper and other media organisations provided surprising disclosures mixed with censured material. Some documents requested were not released.
The newspaper reports that the details revealed are eye-opening, putting numbers on the way Navy leaders allowed Malaysian defense contractor Leonard Francis to insinuate himself in their good graces.
For instance, the newspaper reports, in February 2006 in Singapore, now-Captain David Pimpo, deprived of his admiral's star, attended a dinner at the exclusive JAAN restaurant, a French bistro with sweeping views of the city and a menu offering five and seven-course meals.
According to the censure letter, Pimpo paid $50 for the dinner, though the actual cost was more like $769 per person.
The other two dinners mentioned were at the French restaurant Petrus at Hong Kong's Island Shangri-La hotel, and Spoon, a gourmet French restaurant at Hong Kong's InterContinental hotel.
The website for Petrus promises guests will ''dine in an opulent, elegant atmosphere accentuated by rich draperies, impressionist oil paintings and crystal chandeliers'' overlooking Hong Kong's Victoria Harbor.
Pimpo apparently told Navy investigators that he wasn't ''savvy enough'' to know the difference between a $50 dinner and a $500 dinner.
The letter from Navy Secretary Ray Mabus chastens Pimpo by saying, ''As a supply officer with 20 years of service at the time, you knew or should have known that $50 per person was not the market value of these extravagant dinner parties.''
Censure letters to other US Navy high-ups have also been published at sandiegouniontribune.com
Francis, a hefty larger-than-life character, has pleaded guilty in San Diego federal court on several counts. His ship services company, Glenn Defense Marine Asia, is accused of bilking the Navy out of $20 million.
Phuket and Port Klang in Malaysia have been previously reported as the destinations for warships that Francis preferred because overbilling was easier there.
$20m is a lot of money, but pales in comparison to the $3 trillion the Defence has some how lost.
Posted by Tbs on July 21, 2015 14:21