Dark days ahead for ‘Fat Leonard’

Younger days: Fat Leonard and Ganesan at the Penang Port in the early ‘90s.

He had been living the good life since his 20s, partying, boozing and bribing US Navy personnel to get his way – and big money. Now, it’s gloom and doom for the Penang-born.

AS the ship came in to berth in Port Klang, the man in the general’s outfit strutted out. He was big, and smug with the air of one who is used to being in charge.

The only thing is he was no general. He was not even an army or Navy man. He was to become more famous as a huge con man. His name? Leonard Glenn Francis. Or better known as “Fat Leonard”.

Leonard is the man who once famously claimed that he could move United States Navy ships like “paper ships in the water” and had top “naval officers in his pocket”.

He is one of several infamous sons of Penang, with the list headed by the fugitive Jho Low, the man said to be behind the world’s greatest scam – the 1MDB scandal. There is also a Selva Kumar Subbiah, who was jailed in Canada for 24 years for sexually assaulting as many as 1,000 women and girls.

All three had charm. While Jho Low could make the rich part with their money and Selva – a former schoolmate – could trick women into bed, Fat Leonard had a million-dollar smile that would put anyone at ease, say those who knew him in Penang.

Leonard was arrested on charges of defrauding the US Navy of tens of millions of dollars in the largest bribery scandal the Navy has faced. He was under house arrest, facing a maximum 25-year jail term and was to be sentenced last Thursday. On Sept 4, he disappeared.

Somehow, he managed to cut his GPS ankle bracelets and escaped just when the security personnel who was guarding him had gone for lunch. It also seems rather opportune that there were haulier trucks outside the house waiting for the moment.

It seems likely that Leonard had somehow worked his charm again. But not for long; he only got as far as Venezuela, crossing the border from San Diego to Tijuana in Mexico.Just who is this Fat Leonard? “He was the best boss I have known. He taught me everything I know,” says R. Ganesan, a friend who has known Leonard since he was about 18. Ganesan is in the ship chandling business, which was Leonard’s forte.

Chandlers supply almost everything for ships when they come to port – fresh food, fresh water, ship’s supplies, repairs and parts – so they can be ready to set sail again as soon as possible.

Leonard’s English was superb, so was his PR, and he could easily sweet-talk the ships’ captains. He talked to the embassy staff, he offered good prices and matched them with quality services.

He learnt from his grandfather and uncle, who were doing the same business in Singapore.

And he trusted his lieutenants, says Ganesan. “He let me hold all the cash from the ship.” For even a small ship, the amount could come to RM50,000. Leonard would give RM5,000 to the captain, who would almost always get a 10% cut.

“Corruption was always part of the business and Leonard knew how to play the game.”

In fact, he was almost the best in the business, says Ganesan. He handled merchant ships, cruise ships and, of course, naval ships, and he gave them top-of-the-range supplies. He would fly in vegetables and fruits from the ship’s country of origin to keep the captains and their crew happy.

“He would charter a plane to bring in fresh food from abroad and would personally fly in with the produce. The ships’ captains and purchasing officers loved him to bits.”

And they would sign the invoices without a word of complaint about the prices.

In 1990, Penang played host to the International Royal Navy Fleet Review, which saw some 60 naval ships from many countries on show in the waters off the island. The Russians were there, as were the British, Indians and Japanese, but Leonard had his eyes on the Americans – the USS Blue Ridge, in particular.

The USS Blue Ridge was the command ship for the American Seventh fleet. He took special care of this vessel, and that may well have been when he got his first foothold in the US Navy. When the US base in Subic Bay, the Philippines, closed in 1992, he was in business.

He also had good ties with the British Navy. In 1990, HMS Battleaxe was in Penang when news came that Iraq had invaded Kuwait. The warship had to be deployed immediately.

“In the middle of the night, we knocked on doors, called suppliers to open their warehouses. We worked through the night and in the morning, the ship was ready to sail. The captain was surprised but happy.”

Leonard did not have many friends but as a student of Uplands International School, he had many schoolmates whose fathers worked in foreign missions. That helped him get into international business.

Another man, who worked for Leonard for a short period, said he loved to entertain. When naval ships came to the Lumut naval shipyard, Leonard would charter a helicopter from Kuala Lumpur and fly top crew members to Penang, where they would party for days. He loved helicopter rides.

“But he only partied with ships’ officers. Otherwise, he largely stayed at home. He had a house in Shah Alam, near the Selangor Sultan’s Palace, and then moved to another luxury bungalow in Petaling Jaya with his wife, a Filipina singer he had met while entertaining these officers in clubs.

“He loved to eat. Nasi kandar, banana leaf rice, mamak fare, anything. But while we could eat a plate of the food, he would polish off two plates and go for other food as well. That is why he was so big.”

Both say he was not in it for the money. He just loved having money and spending it with others.

Now that he is back in the clutches of the US authorities, the only spending he is going to do is time in prison. Poor guy. He had so much promise. Fat lot of good that did him!