Navy fraud case prosecutors: Contractor got more work despite poor performance After a month at sea, the 5,000 sailors aboard the USS George Washington couldn't wait to hit the bars, legalized brothels and other attractions in Brisbane, Australia. But when the aircraft carrier arrived for a port visit in July, crew members remained stuck on board for six frustrating hours because a Navy contractor couldn't find a gangway. It was the second major embarrassment in less than a year for the contractor, Glenn Defense Marine Asia. In February, the Philippine Senate publicly excoriated the Singapore-based company after finding that it had collected untreated sewage from U.S. Navy ships and illegally dumped it into protected waters near Subic Bay. Despite the dumping violations and poor performance, Navy contracting officials kept giving the contractor more lucrative business to resupply ships and submarines in the region. Two days after the blunder in Brisbane, records show, Navy officials awarded the firm a no-bid $1 million contract extension to provide port services in Malaysia. Today, Glenn Defense Marine and its president, Leonard Glenn Francis, are principal characters in one of the biggest contracting fraud investigations in the Navy's 238-year history. The Justice Department has accused Francis, a Malaysian widely known in maritime circles as "Fat Leonard," of bribing Navy officers with prostitutes and cash for inside information that enabled him to fleece the government. Seven senior Navy officials have been charged, suspended or placed on leave, and the Navy has said it expects more will get in trouble. In a recent court filing, federal prosecutors in San Diego gave a clearer picture of the scope of the investigation, saying it has involved more than 100 law enforcement agents working in eight states and eight Asian countries. U.S. federal agents are teaming with authorities from other countries, including the Royal Thai Police and Singapore's Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau. The court filing also reveals that prosecutors have expanded their estimate of the financial damage that Francis and his firm inflicted on the Navy, saying their tally of alleged fraud exceeds $20 million and is likely to keep rising. The executive has been in federal custody in San Diego since September, when he was arrested in a sting operation after agents lured him to the United States. He has pleaded not guilty. In addition to salacious evidence of sailors selling secrets for sex, cash and other favors, the investigation has pinpointed systematic weaknesses in the Navy's worldwide contracting bureaucracy. According to affidavits filed by agents from the Pentagon's Defense Criminal Investigative Service, Francis and other executives from Glenn Defense Marine cheated the system with ease by forging hundreds of invoices, price quotes and other documents to overcharge for fuel, food and port services. The firm made little effort to conceal the fraudulent nature of the paperwork, repeatedly submitting the same false forms for reimbursement, the affidavits show. Navy contracting officials in Singapore and Japan rubber-stamped many of the claims, even though a cursory check could have exposed the scam, according to the agents" statements.