US Navy officer arrested in bribery case

The former captain of the destroyer USS Mustin, a Navy special agent and a Singapore-based defense contractor have been arrested in connection with an alleged bribery scheme to swap classified ship information for luxury travel and prostitutes, US prosecutors said Wednesday.

Cmdr. Michael Vannak Khem Misiewicz, a captain-select, who commanded Mustin and later served as deputy operations officer aboard the USS Blue Ridge for the Yokosuka-based US 7th Fleet, was arrested Monday in Colorado, where he works at Peterson Air Force Base.

Naval Criminal Investigative Service supervisory agent John Bertrand Beliveau II was arrested in Virginia, and Leonard Glenn Francis, head of Glenn Defense Marine Asia, or GDMA, was arrested in San Diego on Monday, according to a statement from the US Attorney™s office in San Diego.

Misiewicz steered the aircraft carriers USS George Washington and USS John C. Stennis, the USS Blue Ridge and other ships to so-called œpearl ports” – international ports with lax oversight – where Francis™ company could overcharge the Navy for millions of dollars in services to moored ships, according to a criminal complaint unsealed Tuesday.

GDMA has been providing support services for more than 25 years, according to the complaint.

The accusations represent a stunning career turn for Misiewicz, a US Naval Academy graduate who received international media attention in 2010 for his personal story as an adopted Cambodian- American who returned to Cambodia at the USS Mustin™s helm.

When ships were headed to Singapore and other ports Francis considered less profitable, Misiewicz attempted to get port visits rescheduled to Francis™ ports of choice, including Sepangar, Malaysia, and Laem Chebang, Thailand.

œMisiewicz had high-level exposure to the operational planning for ships in the Seventh Fleet and for any US Navy ship traveling through [7th Fleet™s] area of responsibility,” the complaint states. œMisiewicz also wielded influence in determining or modifying the schedule of port visits for US Navy vessels.”

US 7th Fleet officials referred all questions to the Justice Department on Wednesday.

When Stennis visited Sepangar in September 2012, Francis™ company billed the Navy $2.7 million for services. Two similar carrier visits to Malaysia in 2011 cost about half that figure, according to Defense Contract Auditing Agency data cited in the complaint.

Francis also tried to arrange tickets for Misiewicz and other sailors to a Lady Gaga concert in Thailand, and lamented that Misiewicz missed a group of female escorts that Francis referred to as his œElite Thai Seal Team,” according to an email cited in the complaint.

Misiewicz commanded the USS Mustin from 2009 to 2011, according to a prior Navy statement. He served as 7th fleet deputy operations officer until April 2012, according to the court complaint.

Misiewicz™s next anticipated court date is Sept. 30 in San Diego, assistant US attorney Mark Pletcher told Stars and Stripes on Wednesday. On Friday, a US magistrate will determine whether Francis, a Malaysian national, is considered a flight risk. Stars and Stripes

AGB/AGB