Scandal Widens Over Contracts for Navy Work

[Judi Lynn]

Source: New York Times

Scandal Widens Over Contracts for Navy Work
By CHRISTOPHER DREW and DANIELLE IVORY
Published: November 29, 2013

A scandal involving the Navy’s ship supply network, until now focused on the Pacific Fleet, has spread to another contractor working for Navy ships in the waters off the Middle East, Africa and South America.

The Justice Department is looking into allegations that the company, Inchcape Shipping Services, with the help of subcontractors, overcharged the Navy by millions of dollars, interviews and previously undisclosed court documents show.
Inchcape, which is owned by the government of Dubai, was suspended this week from winning new federal contracts and is expected to meet with Justice Department officials soon to discuss the case.

The civil fraud investigation, which was prompted by a whistle-blower who had worked for the company, is another serious embarrassment for the Navy, which is already grappling with a criminal investigation of its main ship supplier in the Pacific, Glenn Defense Marine Asia.

The firm’s owner, Leonard Glenn Francis, was arrested in September on charges of conspiring to bribe Navy officials with cash, trips and prostitutes. In exchange, investigators say, those officials helped divert ships to certain ports where Glenn Defense submitted inflated bills. Three Navy officials have been charged with crimes, and four others, including two admirals, have been suspended over their ties to Mr. Francis.


Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/30/us/scandal-widens-over-contracts-for-navy-work.html?_r=0

[mdbl]

1. Another example of an upstanding corporation

using the Federal Govt for its own greed. They probably love passing fake emails about how welfare queens buy themselves cadillacs. After making millions, they'll get fined a couple of hundred thousand.

[warrant46]

9. No one will go to jail in this

And the Filthy Corrupt Admirals will retire on full pensions and go to work for Corporate Defense Contractors

[BlueToTheBone]

11. Wouldn't it be great if it changed? n/t

[MADem]

12. I dunno about that. There are some mid-grade and senior officers who have

done enough to earn a bunk in Leavenworth.

And if those flag officers fucked up before they made flag, they only get to keep the pension for "honorable" service...which could bust them down a few pegs:

http://www.navytimes.com/article/20131115/NEWS06/311150017/

“If you’re throwing a three-star admiral under the bus, no one’s safe,” said one retired cruiser skipper. Francis, he continued, “has been around for a long time. So the guys who got dinged on this in 2009, 2010, ... Leonard was around for a long time before that.”

Navy Cmdrs. Mike Misiewicz and Jose Luis Sanchez, along with NCIS Supervisory Special Agent John Beliveau, are accused of colluding with Francis and could face prison time. The Navy fired Capt. Daniel Dusek, the commanding officer of the amphibious assault ship Bonhomme Richard, a month ago. He has not been charged with any crimes, but sources say that investigators have linked him to Francis.

Francis, Misiewicz and Beliveau have all pleaded not guilty and face up to five years in prison.

On Nov. 8, in a highly unusual move, the Navy suspended the three-star head of naval intelligence, Vice Adm. Ted “Twig” Branch, and a one-star deputy, Rear Adm. Bruce Loveless, for their connections to Francis; they have not been charged. ..... The allegations, which remain unclear, stem from their conduct prior to their current assignments and from before they made admiral, said Rear Adm. John Kirby, the Navy’s top spokesman.

Both men retain their rank and have been placed on temporary leave, Kirby added....

Hey, as a USN retiree, I say CLEAN HOUSE. Assholes like this gum up the gears. Your integrity is what anchors your credibility in that game, and once you lose it, you've got nothing.

[warrant46]

20. Its sad isn't it

Gives those who served with pride and honor a lot of embarrassment to outsiders who don't understand how hard the jobs are on families and time.

[dotymed]

19. Will "they"

prosecute the whistleblower?
That seems to be SOP these days.

[warrant46]

21. Yes, I'm certain that concept

Is crossing someone's mind

[Scuba]

2. Quick, cut food stamps!

[jsr]

7. +1.

[bemildred]

3. This is SOP, sometimes they just get too carried away.

Military procurement, like our health care system, has been turned into a money-making racket.

[underpants]

5. Yes overcharging "Uncle Sucker" is standard

I grew up in Tidewater Va (fully reliant in the DoD test) and I know of multiple anecdotal as well as systematic examples.

[bemildred]

6. Yep, I've been there too. I even got to see the money end at one time, billing.

Generally most of the "costs" are pulled from someones ass, and then you add "overhead" (say 80%), G&A (16%) and "profit" (10%). I remember once where the gov't contracting agent (a Major at the time) was "dating" my married female boss who was making the decisions for us. One of the worst managed jobs I ever saw. Six weeks in Lawton, OK, trying to fix a piece of botched RS232c communications software written by her husband, who did not understand asynchronous programming. I finally got it to "work" but it was still waaay too slow.

[MADem]

14. Cuban cigars, double magnums of champagne, hookers, lavish meals and accommodations,

and the coordinated movement of USN vessels for the purposes of enriching a con man?

Naah, this isn't SOP. I've seen bad behavior with prostitutes before, and I've seen financial malfeasance, but not both, together, on this scale, reaching up to the three-star level.

That clumpita-clumpita-clumpita sound you hear is heads rolling.

This makes Tailhook look like a walk in the park.

[bemildred]

16. Well, I will agree that holding people with stars accountable for anything is QUITE unusual.

Last edited Sun Dec 1, 2013, 06:47 AM - Edit history (1)

And that many, even most, people working in defense are upright citizens.
But I will not agree that this sort of thing does not happen all the time, up and down the line.

Edit: but I will agree that Obama has been good on this subject, he has axed a lot of these pricks.

[MADem]

17. I've seen it happen. And it's been happening a LOT quite recently.

I saw a flag get busted to 0-6 and booted for having a romance with a civilian employee not in his chain of command. It was an adulterous relationship, though. I saw another get the old "lost faith and confidence" routine and made to walk the plank. In the course of my career, I've seen this kind of thing go down--and 0-4 through 0-6, quite frequently.

I guess Gen McChrystal is a fading memory? That was a pretty substantial take down.

Just because they go quietly doesn't mean they don't go. It's usually done without fuss but more often than you might realize.

You do know there's been quite a house cleaning in recent years? Here are a few of the ones I can recall from quite recently:

VADM: http://www.navytimes.com/article/20131009/NEWS/310090029/

RADM: http://www.navytimes.com/article/20121104/NEWS/211040314/

MGEN: http://www.armytimes.com/article/20130404/NEWS/304040027/

MGEN: http://www.military.com/daily-news/2013/06/08/army-two-star-relieved-in-sex-assault-investigation.html

BGEN: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/11/bryan-roberts-fort-jackson_n_3582576.html

MGEN x 2: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/01/us/high-ranking-marine-generals-forced-to-retire-over-fatal-security-breach.html?_r=0

MGEN: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/10/11/air-force-general-in-charge-nuclear-missiles-to-be-fired-officials-say/

LGEN: http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-06-14/world/39971855_1_huntoon-inspector-general-west-point

And of course, there are always plenty of O-6s getting the boot:

http://www.airforcetimes.com/article/20130825/NEWS/308250009/

http://www.airforcetimes.com/article/20130320/CAREERS03/303200026/Colonel-relieved-of-command-for-failing-PT-test

http://www.navytimes.com/article/20130921/CAREERS03/309210016/Air-Wing-captain-fired-over-alleged-relationship-female-junior-officer

http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/article/20131022/NEWS/310220020/

http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/article/20130718/CAREERS03/307180027/



I could go on and on--this is, really, just the tip of the iceberg, and this is just this year by and large--and by NO means a complete list--there are many more.

This is happening a LOT. I dare say the deadwood is being taken out, and good thing.

[warrant46]

22. Doesn't that happen from time to time anyway?

The service academies tend to produce conformists who practice CYA to get ahead. I have seen that in my service also.

Its maddening to see some incompetents rise to the level of embarrassment.

And then someone like Eric K. Shinseki comes along with the truth and is shown the door.

This because Wolfman and Rummy Dummy were so naive to believe that there would be a Rose Petal parade in Baghdad

[MADem]

24. Between you, me and the fencepost, a lot of these people getting the

jettison came in under Reagan/Poppy and got their big promotions under Porgie. They're partisans and they NEED to get the hell outta there. That kind of shit is just wrong.

They plainly slept through the flag/general ethics class (what a crime that such a thing had to even be created--that crap used to be taught at command indoctrination, along with what fork to use and developing a signal so that your spouse knows to shut up!).

Rick did OK--he ended up as a cabinet secretary. Talk about a fine Eff You to the losers who couldn't bother to show up at Henderson Hall for his retirement ceremony (bastards). And of course, he has the satisfaction of being able to say "And I was RIGHT, too..."

[bemildred]

25. Yes.

I was wondering when Obama came into office what he was going to do about them. You can't keep them, they are disloyal, disobedient, and incompetent. And you can't just dismiss them all without cause. And he seems to do what I would do, which is wait for them to fuck up (they will) and can 'em.

We seem to be getting a little movement on gender discrimination, too, ("Rape!", if you like) which overlaps with this issue, but I am less happy with that, as yet. But it's a tougher issue, cultural, not just a matter of a "few bad apples".

[warrant46]

27. I wonder who was compiling the promotion list for Porgie to nominate

Obviously he never had personal knowledge of the abilities of most of them.

Some are also not covertly partisan like Gen. Wesley Clark who received a large career boost under Clinton. He is now in the middle of a nasty divorce in Arkansas and the press is throttling him with headlines such as "Gen. Wesley Clark is claiming "general indignities" to divorce his wife of 46 years". (Good luck on the alimony Wes).

But again that doesn't really let anyone know whether or not the appointee was worth a damn when the shooting started. Or whether or not the leader could manage a supply depot and make sure not all of the gloves were left handed or if there were enough tongue depressors in the event of a crisis.

And since you were in the Navy what was the word on Admiral William Crowe. He seemed to be able to think for himself and was at least respected by leaders of both parties.

[MADem]

28. Well, Rummy was the gatekeeper for a LOT of those assholes.

Gates didn't come in until the end.

The Service leadership (Chiefs of Staff/USN CNO/USMC Commandant) get their individual little grab bag of names together, then the Service Secretaries take a swipe at them, then the SECDEF, and of course, the JCS Chair weighs in there at some point, but it's POTUS who signs off. The 0-9 and 10 nominees do not go through any kind of "board" process--it's all down to what jobs they've had and how the big wigs "feel" about them. Nowadays, with the "purple" requirements, everyone has to jump through a series of hoops, to include joint assignments, in order to get promoted past a certain point.

As for Bill Crowe, he was a good JCS chair. He got his "start" the same way Colin Powell did--he got lucky enough to be picked as a Presidential Naval aide (to Ike, IIRC), and he didn't screw up afterwards. When you finish your career as an ambassador, you haven't done badly (or, as Powell did, as SECSTATE--too bad he didn't have more character). I remember feeling a bit perturbed when Crowe was involved in that anthrax vaccine manufacturing business--that vaccine fucked a lot of people up; it wasn't the benign thing they claimed it was as they forced the lot of us to endure those vaccinations. But yes, he was politically astute, like Borda, Zinni, Wes Clark, that stupid twit Petraeus and others. And he probably had a shade more character than many of them, too.

Wes Clark's pension is hefty, and I know he has other irons in the fire--he can afford to pay alimony and keep his soon-to-be ex-missus in the style to which she has been accustomed. I will say that Gertrude was very well liked when he was over in Europe (some people liked her WAY better than him, to be blunt about it--he was not an easy man to deal with and quite frankly could be a total asshole, sometimes for no good reason), and his new girlfriend makes him look like he's either a tool of a foreign power or "old man crazy" or both. I mean, come on--what is he thinking, here? His girlfriend is thirteen years younger than his adult SON, and much less than half his age. He looks as stupid as Rupert Murdoch did with Wendy Deng, or Woody Allen with his step daughter--it's just creepy, IMO...

?w=300&h=300&crop=1

He might not need many of his old military pals anymore, but just as well, because dragging that child around with him will cause discomfort and awkwardness, socially speaking. Anyone who hopes that Wes will rise again and become a political force I think needs to fuggedaboutit. He couldn't be elected dogcatcher with that kind of intemperate conduct. I guess he figures he's pushing seventy, he's gonna enjoy the last few years even if he looks like a fool (which he does). I mean, he was married for seven years before that child on his arm was even BORN. It's icky. No fool like an old fool, I guess...!

[warrant46]

29. Thanks for the briefing

I had 8 1/2 years at the lower end. The highest individuals up the chain I had dealings with were O-5 and O-6. I never knew all the ins and outs.

It was during Viet-Nam and it was always very confusing being on the "Lower End"

Enjoy your retirement !!

[MADem]

30. It's confusing no matter where you fall out!

And unfortunately, it's not immutable. Your military or mine are not the same outfit that folks are dealing with in the 21st Century--it's a different animal. I think the military under Clinton was probably the LEAST partisan in modern times (by that I mean, oh, say, post-Nixon). Despite the few imbroglios in the news (some thing about a USAF general officer getting "insulted" by a Clinton staffer at the start of his first term, for example) the Services, all of 'em, were pretty professional and even the "obvious Republicans" were mostly temperate and observed the "STFU about politics" rules--of course, they weren't stressed by War Without End, either. Under Bush, it was greed city--the money is flowing, how do "we" get some of it? Make sure that the HASC hears YOUR side! Suck up to those Congressmen! And of course, everyone (except for the Army, and to a much lesser extent the USMC, who were grabbing it all) was fighting like hell to defend their end strength so they didn't have shortages at the unit level.

You have no idea how much I enjoy retirement---I freely admit I'm way too old now for that shit, and the politics that I have seen since Rummy befouled the Pentagon a second time with his stench I think is just too much for any sane person to bear! I can get mouthy when I disagree, and I've been fortunate that I've always been in positions where that kind of thing was not just tolerated, but encouraged. These days? I'd probably be booted out with my head on a plate!

[warrant46]

32. +1 N/T

[bemildred]

23. Yeah, I can agree with that. A touchy business at times too. nt

[another_liberal]

4. Greedy goddamned bastards!

Like these contractors wouldn't have made fortunes anyway even without all the graft and theft? And why the hell are we farming out our military's resupply contracts to a country like Dubai in the first place? This stinks to high heaven.

I've said it before: We need to retire at least half of our Generals and Admirals. It might be good to do it by seniority, because the more senior ones are more expensive to maintain as active, uniformed crooks and swindlers anyhow.

[MADem]

31. It's happening. Aside from the firings, we're in drawdown mode.

See post 17--that's just this year, and that's not all of 'em, either.

There will also be a USAF SERB coming up, and other Services are bound to have their own clear-out pretty soon.

Another great way to get rid of people is to eliminate jobs--if there's no jobs, there's no bodies needed to do the work....!

[adirondacker]

8. Infestation of Corporate cockroaches, No wonder there isn't enough food...

“It’s like finding a couple of cockroaches in the kitchen when you turn on the light,” said Charles Tiefer, a former member of the federal Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan and a professor at the University of Baltimore School of Law. “This suggests that this area of contracting is infested with problems, including a lack of competition, overbilling and resistance to government investigations.”

Squash em and they still keep appearing.

[KoKo]

10. This "Comment" on the Replies at NYT to the article says it all:

Frank Casa
Seville
Verified

What is with the Armed Forces and their suppliers? From the time of Sens. Paul Douglas and Proxmire down to the scandals in Iraq, we have had disclosures of over-charging and corruption in this area and….nothing is ever done. Who is supposed to be in charge and why people aren't fired, discredited and or jailed? When the scandal gets so big that it can't be covered up, we get an "agreement" where these people admit no guilt and get fined a couple of percentage of the money they have stolen. No one in Congress proposes that since the Armed Forces have given away billions, we will reduce their budget by that amount. Nothing like this ever happens but just the opposite: more money is requested by the Services and, often increased by Congress. The politicians tolerate and encourage this because they get campaign donations, jobs for their constituents or future well-payed positions when they leave government. And these are the people that want to save money on food for children and medical attention for the poor. Enough to make you sick.

Nov. 30, 2013 at 11:44 a.m.
Recommended33

[kelliekat44]

13. At least this Justice Department is investigating. But I wonder if all this stuff is taking place

just because Obama is in office and the perps believe they can get away with anything they want to do?

[MADem]

15. "Fat Leonard's" shenanigans go back twenty years.

If they really want to start digging, they could drag people back from the retired lists and nail 'em.

[MADem]

18. Obama is cleaning house.

He's been taking out the trash for the last couple of years.

They'll do a few Selective Early Retirement Boards and toss a few more attitudinal flag/general officers over the side, and get the machine running smoothly again.

It's never easy to transition to a peacetime military, even more so when you've got the organization seeded with assholes who were promoted past their optimal paygrade.

[Laelth]

26. k&r for exposure. n/t

-Laelth