A sailor pleaded guilty Wednesday to accepting cash, hotel rooms and the services of a prostitute in exchange for revealing classified Navy ship schedules, marking the latest episode in a bribery scandal that broke earlier this year.
Todd Dale Malaki admitted that he began a corrupt relationship in 2006 with Leonard Glenn Francis, the former president of Glenn Defense Marine Asia, a company that provided services to the Navy for visiting ships, according to a Justice Department press release.
Malaki is the eighth person to plead guilty in the latest bribery and corruption investigation in the Navy. Two other individuals have been charged and pleaded not guilty.
“Another Navy officer has now pleaded guilty and admitted to taking bribes to reveal classified military information to a major supplier,” said Assistant Attorney General Leslie Caldwell. “It is both troubling and disappointing how many Navy officers we have exposed as willingly falling prey to GDMA’s corruption, and our investigation remains active and ongoing.”
The sailor provided classified ship schedules as well as proprietary invoicing information from the company’s competitors to give Mr. Francis’s company a competitive edge in exchange for luxury hotel stays in Singapore, Hong Kong and Tonga, envelopes of cash, entertainment expenses and the services of a prostitute, the release said.
In total, he received about $15,000 in gifts in exchange for the information.
Malaki will be sentenced July 6, according to the release.
“The receipt of envelopes of cash and lavish hotel stays by our public officials at whatever level erodes the public’s trust in our institutions and our government,” said Laura Duffy, U.S. attorney of the southern district of California. “Today’s guilty plea reflects the next step in our ongoing effort to regain that public trust.”
The investigation by Naval Criminal Investigative Services and Defense Criminal Investigative Services is ongoing, the release said.
• Jacqueline Klimas can be reached at jklimas@washingtontimes.com.
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