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Captain Suspended from CRG-1 Post While Navy Investigates 'Fat Leonard' Scandal
The Navy confirmed Thursday that Capt. David Williams Haas was removed from his job as deputy commander of Coastal Riverine Group 1 in Imperial Beach.
A Navy captain caught up in the "Fat Leonard" bribery scandal has been suspended from his command post in Imperial Beach.
Capt. David Williams Haas, 45, was removed from his job as deputy commander of Coastal Riverine Group 1, the Navy announced Thursday, due to allegations in connection with an ongoing Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) investigation into Glenn Defense Marine Asia. The Navy said Haas was temporarily reassigned to the staff of Expeditionary Training Group on Nov. 15, and that he has retained his rank.
CNN reports Haas is the sixth Navy officer, including two admirals, caught up in the growing scandal. He is the third senior Navy officer to be suspended from duty in connection to the widening investigation of a multimillion-dollar bribery case involving Navy ships in Asia-Pacific ports, according to the LA Times.
The admirals and Haas have not been charged.
Leonard Francis, owner of Singapore-based Glenn Defense Marine Asia, a company manager, manager, two Navy officers and a Navy criminal investigative agent have been charged in the bribes-for-business case, says a news report in UT San Diego.
Francis is known by the nickname “Fat Leonard."
Navy Cmdr. Jose Luis Sanchez, 41, charged with accepting the services of prostitutes, luxury travel and $100,000 in cash from a foreign defense contractor in exchange for classified information, made his first appearance in a San Diego courtroom Wednesday and was given a Dec. 5 arraignment date.
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