Fat Leonard, Who Filmed Orgies Involving Senior Navy Admirals, Extradited To The US By Venezuela
As part of a prisoner exchange in which Joe Biden granted clemency to a prominent moneyman for President Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela released 10 detained Americans as well as the man at the center of historic Navy bribery scandal: Fat Leonard, a military contractor known for organizing and filming orgies involving senior U.S. Navy admirals, is on his way back to San Diego to face sentencing for corruption over a year after he fled to Venezuela. It's one of the U.S.’s worst ever national security breaches.
The White House confirmed the deal had taken place after days of mounting speculation amid fears that a fragile agreement could break down or change at any moment.
As the WSJ notes, the completed trade marked a breakthrough in the Biden administration’s rapprochement efforts with Caracas, which has become a key source of marginal oil for Biden in the critical 2024 election year, as well as one of the biggest hostage deals the US has carried out with a hostile foreign government.
Leonard Francis, a Malaysian businessman given his nickname for his 6-foot-2, 350-pound frame, had fled the U.S. last year just weeks before he was scheduled to be sentenced for his role in an extensive corruption scheme.
The “Fat Leonard” scandal cost the U.S. tens of millions of dollars and the resulting federal investigation gutted the Navy’s leadership ranks in the Asia-Pacific region. Francis had pleaded guilty in 2015 to bribing dozens of Naval officers with lavish dinners, orgies and cash, and cooperated with prosecutors for several years, to mixed results.
Fat Leonard, who according to some "effectively controlled the U.S. Navy’s Pacific fleet", had spent millions of dollars bribing officers of the Seventh Fleet and in exchange those officers made sure the U.S. Navy’s most powerful ships sailed into ports controlled by Francis’ company. When the ships docked, Fat Leonard overcharged for basic services such as fuel, food and sewage.
U.S. federal agents arrested Fat Leonard and Navy officers implicated in his scam, and the Justice Department spent years digging through a treasure trove of emails, receipts and phone records. On March 14, 2017, the department handed down an indictment that charged eight more Navy officers — including Rear Adm. Bruce Loveless — with taking part in the conspiracy.
The 79-page indictment was an "incredible document". The word prostitutes appears 28 times and the charges include a detailed account of Fat Leonard’s bribes. The Malaysian kingpin ran “a rotating carousel of prostitutes,” threw wild sex parties and even hosted an orgy that involved memorabilia of famed U.S. Gen. Douglas MacArthur, according to the indictment.
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/fat-leonard-who-filmed-orgies-involving-senior-navy-admirals-extradited-us-venezuela