The ever-widening bribery scandal involving a Singapore-based contractor has netted federal prosecutors their 11th guilty plea.
Former Department of Defense senior contracting official Paul Simpkins, 61, of Haymarket, Va., pleaded guilty on June 23 to charges that he accepted bribes and prostitutes from Leonard Glenn Francis, owner of Glenn Defense Marine Asia, in exchange for preferential treatment on defense contracts.
Francis, referred to in court documents "Fat Leonard" for his reported 350-pound weight, operated a massive bribery scheme that has so far entangled a rear admiral, two Navy captains, a Naval Criminal Investigative Service special agent, a lieutenant commander, commander, a petty officer first class, among others.
Department of Justice officials said in a statement that as part of a plea deal, that from May 2006 to September 2012, Simpkins accepted cash, travel expenses and prostitute services from Francis in exchange for steering Navy contracts to Francis.
Prosecutors also said that the contracting official intervened in a number of instances where GDMA was in dispute with the Navy.
According to court documents, Simpkins extended a GDMA contract after a subordinate recommended dropping the company due to its high costs. He also ordered officials in Hong Kong to remove meters that tracked waste services provided by GDMA to prevent overbilling, and told a Navy official to ignore invoices from the company when suspicions were raised about its dealings.
The contracting official told prosecutors that Francis paid him "with hundreds of thousands of dollars" through wire transfers to a bank account in Japan under Simpkins' former wife's name. Simpkins later moved the money to a U.S. account under his name.
Simpkins sentencing is set for Sept. 9. To date, 14 people have been charged in the "Fat Leonard" scandal. Officials say the investigation is ongoing.
