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 Petty Officer First Class Dan Layug, 27, is charged with
conspiracy to commit bribery, according to a complaint unsealed on
Thursday. Tokyo-based Layug was arrested on Wednesday in San Diego,
where he later appeared before a federal judge.
He is accused of accepting payments of $1,000 a month, plus
expensive electronic gadgets and luxury hotel stays, in exchange for
information he provided on Navy ships' schedules to Glenn Defense
Marine Asia, the company at the center of the scandal.
The company's CEO, native Malaysian businessman Leonard Glenn
Francis, is charged with plying Navy officials with cash, concert
tickets, prostitutes and other gifts to win business.
U.S. Navy Commander Michael Misiewicz and Navy criminal
investigations special agent John Beliveau were arrested on
September 16, 2013, at the same time as Francis, and charged with
conspiracy to commit bribery.
Commander Jose Luis Sanchez was arrested and charged in November
with accepting prostitutes, luxury travel and $100,000 in cash from
Francis. Glenn Defense executive Alex Wisidagama, of Singapore, was
also charged in the scandal. He and Beliveau have since pleaded
guilty.
Two other high-level Navy officers — a vice admiral and a rear
admiral — have been placed on leave, and a captain was removed from
the command of an assault ship in connection with the investigation,
but they have not been charged.
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The complaints against Francis allege that he directed a scheme to
defraud the Navy by bribing military officials to steer ships into
harbors where his company would provide ship husbandry — a range of
services from cleaning, restocking and refueling to shepherding Navy
personnel during their port stay.
Francis, the complaints allege, would then inflate the charges for
those services and demand kickbacks from his company's
subcontractors.
Court records indicate that Glenn Defense Marine Asia has been
servicing Navy ships since at least 2009. In 2011, the company won a
contract that officials estimate was worth at least $200 million.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Karen Crawford set Layug's bond at $100,000
and ordered him to wear a GPS monitoring device to track his
whereabouts.
If convicted, Layug faces up to five years in prison and a maximum
fine of $250,000.
(Editing by Steve Gorman and Paul Tait)
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