Two Former Executives of Foreign Defense Contractor Charged in Expanding Fraud and Corruption Probe

[nitpicker]

https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdca/pr/two-former-executives-foreign-defense-contractor-charged-expanding-fraud-and-corruption

Department of Justice
U.S. Attorney’s Office
Southern District of California

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, September 16, 2016

Two Former Executives of Foreign Defense Contractor Charged in Expanding Fraud and Corruption Probe
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Neil Peterson, 38, and Linda Raja, 43, both of Singapore, worked as chief deputies for foreign defense contractor Leonard Glenn Francis to fill the coffers of their company, Glenn Defense Marine Asia (GDMA), at the expense of the U.S. Navy. Peterson served as the Vice President for Global Operations for GDMA and Raja served as GDMA’s General Manager for Singapore, Australia, and the Pacific Isles. Both defendants have been arrested and are currently being held in custody in Singapore, awaiting extradition to the United States to answer charges relating to their participation in the massive scheme to defraud the U.S Navy.

The indictment, unsealed yesterday by order of U.S. District Judge Janis L. Sammartino in the Southern District of California, alleges that Peterson and Raja submitted false claims of well over $5 million to the U.S. Navy. According to the indictment, in addition to the submission of fraudulent claims and invoices, Peterson and Raja worked to perpetuate and cover up their fraud by consistently misrepresenting to the U.S. Navy the cost of providing services to its ships in Asia, even going so far as to submit false price quotes from non-existent companies, on letterhead created from graphics cut and pasted from the Internet.
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Including Peterson and Raja, a total of 16 named individual defendants have been charged in connection with the GDMA corruption and fraud investigation. Of those, 11 are current or former U.S. Navy officials, including Admiral Robert Gilbeau, believed to be the first active-duty U.S. Navy flag officer charged in a federal criminal case; Captain (ret.) Michael Brooks; Commander Bobby Pitts; Lt. Commander Gentry Debord; Captain Daniel Dusek; Commander Michael Misiewicz; Lt. Commander Todd Malaki; Commander Jose Luis Sanchez; Petty Officer First Class Daniel Layug; Naval Criminal Investigative Service Supervisory Special Agent John Beliveau; and Paul Simpkins, a former DoD civilian employee, who oversaw contracting in Singapore.
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Also charged are three additional GDMA executives – Francis, Alex Wisidagama and Ed Aruffo. All three have pleaded guilty; Wisidagama was sentenced on March 18, 2016 to 63 months and $34.8 million in restitution to the Navy. Francis and Aruffo await sentencing.