Two U.S. admirals — including the director of naval intelligence — are under investigation as part of a major bribery scandal involving a foreign defense contractor, Navy officials announced.
Vice Adm. Ted “Twig” Branch, the service’s top intelligence officer, and Rear Adm. Bruce F. Loveless, the Navy’s director of intelligence operations, were placed on leave, and their access to classified material was suspended, the Navy said in a statement.
Both admirals are being investigated for their ties to a Singapore-based defense contractor, Glenn Defense Marine Asia, whose chief executive was arrested in September on charges that he bribed other Navy officers into giving him classified or privileged information in exchange for prostitutes and cash.
Two Navy commanders and a senior Naval Criminal Investigative Service agent have already been arrested, and a captain was relieved of his ship’s command last month in connection with the case.
The announcement that two admirals in charge of protecting the Navy’s secrets have been swept up in the investigation makes the crisis the worst to tar the Navy since the 1991 Tailhook scandal.
Navy officials said they were bracing for even more bad news to emerge from a corruption case that has expanded swiftly since it became public.
“We do believe that other naval officers will likely be implicated in this scandal,” Rear Adm. John F. Kirby, the Navy’s chief spokesman, said.
Francis plied the officers with female escorts, cash, paid travel and other perks, including tickets to a Lady Gaga concert in Thailand and a performance of “The Lion King” in Japan, according to court records.
The company was rewarded in 2011 with new contracts valued up to $200 million.
Loveless assumed his current job at the Pentagon in February.
The U.S. military has never been immune from contracting scandals, but it is extremely rare for senior uniformed commanders to face fraud or corruption charges.
Neither Branch nor Loveless has been charged with a crime or service violation, and both men retain their rank while the investigation proceeds, the Navy said.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/two-admirals-face-probe-in-navy-bribery-scheme/2013/11/08/d2dc063a-48d8-11e3-bf0c-cebf37c6f484_story.html
