- Also charged were Leonard Glenn Francis, the CEO of defense contractor Glenn Defense Marine Asia Ltd
- And John Bertrand Beliveau II, a special agent with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service – NCIS
By James Nye
PUBLISHED: 00:20 EST, 22 October 2013 | UPDATED: 00:58 EST, 22 October 2013
Arrested: Michael Vannak Khem Misiewicz has been charged with accepting paid travel, the services of prostitutes and Lady Gaga concert tickets in a devastating bribery case for the US Navy
A high profile U.S. Navy commander has been charged with accepting paid travel, the services of prostitutes and Lady Gaga concert tickets from a Singapore-based defense contractor in exchange for classified information according to federal prosecutors.
Commander Michael Vannak Khem Misiewicz, who was born in Cambodia during the Vietnam War and gained media attention for his rise to captain of a U.S. Navy destroyer, has been arrested on federal bribery charges – in what some are calling the worst scandal to hit the Navy in decades.
Also taken into custody and charged in criminal complaints unsealed in U.S. district court in San Diego were Leonard Glenn Francis, the CEO of Glenn Defense Marine Asia Ltd, and John Bertrand Beliveau II, a special agent with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.
Prosecutors accuse Misiewicz, 46, of sending Francis classified information, including ship movements, and helping arrange visits by U.S. Navy vessels to ports where Francis’ company, Glenn Davis Marine Asia Ltd, had contracts worth $200 million to provide tugboats, security, fuel, waste removal and other services.
CBS News reported that maintenance for one ship, the aircraft carrier Stennis, cost the Navy $2.7 million, which is about double the average price charged by other ports.
In exchange, Francis furnished Misiewicz with such gifts as travel, entertainment, luxury hotel stays and prostitutes, prosecutors alleged.
Public Face: In this photo taken Dec. 3, 2010, U.S. navy officer Michael “Vannak Khem” Misiewicz smiles as he delivers his welcome speech on the deck of the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Mustin at Cambodian coastal international see port of Sihanoukville
According to the charges, the defense contractor provided Misiewicz with five tickets to a Lady Gaga concert in Thailand in May 2012.
‘Allegations of bribery and kickbacks involving naval officers, contracting personnel and NCIS agents are unheard of,’ retired Adm. Gary Roughead to The Washington Post, describing the accusation as ‘extremely serious, disconcerting and surprising.’
The complaint also described the two men as developing a close friendship in which Misiewicz referred to Francis by such terms as ‘Big Brother,’ ‘Big Bro’ or ‘BB’ and the defense contractor called him ‘Little Brother,’ ‘Little Bro’ or ‘LB.’
At the time, Misiewicz was deputy operations officer for the U.S. commander of the Seventh Fleet, which oversees operations over some 48 million square miles extending from Japan to Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean and from Vladivostok, Russia, to Australia.
The Washington Post also alleges that Glenn Defense Marine has over-billed the Navy for the entire 25-years that it serviced ships and vessels attached to the service.
CBS News reported that maintenance for one ship, the aircraft carrier Stennis, cost the Navy $2.7 million, which is about double the average price charged by other ports.
‘The allegations described in this complaint describe a bribery case with all the sexy elements of a TV drama,’ Laura E. Duffy, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of California said in an e-mailed statement.
Lured to his arrest: Also taken into custody and charged in criminal complaints unsealed in U.S. district court in San Diego on Tuesday were Leonard Glenn Francis
‘But the significance of the case is that it involves huge sums of money, a wide range of players, a long period of time and a number of countries.’
Prior to his assignment at the Seventh Fleet, Misiewicz had been commanding officer of the USS Mustin, a forward-deployed guided-missile destroyer.
A separate criminal complaint charged Francis with providing Beliveau, 44, travel, entertainment, prostitutes and other gifts in exchange for information about an NCIS investigation into his company.
Prosecutors charged Beliveau with downloading confidential reports about that probe from the agency’s database and conveying that information to Francis.
Francis was arrested in San Diego last month, while Misiewicz was taken into custody in Colorado and Beliveau in Virginia – all mast month.
Francis, a Malaysian national, was allegedly arrested in the United States after being duped into coming to San Diego by Navy officials who arrested him in a sting-operation.
All three face a maximum of five years in federal prison if convicted at trial.
According to a 2010 U.S. Navy release, Misiewicz grew up near Phnom Penh during the Vietnam war and was adopted by an American woman shortly before the Khmer Rouge came to power in 1975.
Reunion: Navy Cmdr. Michael V. Misiewicz, then commanding officer of the guided-missile destroyer USS Mustin, is greeted by a member of his family as the Mustin arrives in Sihanoukville, Cambodia on Dec. 3, 2010
He escaped the notorious ‘Killing Fields’ and was heralded publicly for his successful rise to become the skipper of the USS Mustin – and made an emotional returen to Cambodia in 2010, which was given huge media attention.
The Navy said in the release that a visit by the USS Mustin to Sihanoukville, Cambodia, in December 2010 marked his first return to that country since his adoption 37 years earlier.
On Sunday, a senior Navy spokesman deflected inquires into the status of the still-unfolding investigation.
‘We don’t comment on ongoing investigations, except to say that we are committed to supporting the investigation,” the spokesman told Fox News. “We hold our leaders to — and expect them to uphold — high standards of conduct and professionalism.’
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