Navy bribery case nets Camp Smith employee

A high-ranking civilian defense employee at Camp Smith is the latest former Navy officer caught in the ongoing investigation into the corruption scandal centered around Singaporean-­based defense contractor Leonard Glenn “Fat Leonard” Francis.

David Kapaun, who until recently was deputy chief of staff of the Special Operations Command Pacific, headquartered at Camp Smith, is scheduled to plead guilty next week to failing to disclose to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management in an application for a security clearance that he knew Francis and had accepted gifts from him.

Making materially false and fraudulent statements is punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine.

According to the terms of his plea deal with federal prosecutors, Kapaun informed his bosses of his crime and resigned from his job in January, said Victor Bakke, Kapaun’s lawyer.

“Unfortunately, he was seduced by Fat Leonard, just as many high-ranking military officers were. He should have exercised better judgment. He is taking responsibility and will pay restitution before sentencing,” Bakke said by telephone Monday.

Kapaun is expected to admit that he, as other Navy officers have already admitted, accepted dinners, hotel stays, entertainment and prostitutes from Francis while he was a Navy officer serving aboard various U.S. warships. He is not, however, charged with bribery.

Before he started working at Camp Smith in 2009, Kapaun had served 25 years in the Navy. He retired as a surface warfare officer in 2008.

In September 2013 federal investigators lured Francis to San Diego, where they arrested and charged him with conspiracy to commit bribery.

Francis pleaded guilty in San Diego federal court in January 2015 to bribery, conspiracy to commit bribery and conspiracy to defraud the U.S. on behalf of himself and his company, Glenn Defense Marine Asia, in a plea agreement that the court is keeping under seal. He also agreed to forfeit to the government $35 million.

Francis has not been sentenced, as he is believed to be helping the government identify and prosecute his co-conspirators.

Prosecutors say Francis bribed Navy officers for information about ship movements and logistics, to direct the ships to ports his company controlled, and to sign off on inflated charges for port security and water, trash and wastewater removal.

So far more than two dozen people have been charged in connection with the scandal, most of them, including Kapaun, current or former Navy officers, including two admirals.

Retired Rear Adm. Bruce Loveless was indicted in March on bribery and conspiracy charges. He pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial in San Diego. He commanded the U.S. Pacific Command’s Joint Intelligence Operations Center at Pearl Harbor from 2009 to 2012.

Former Rear Adm. Robert Gilbeau pleaded guilty last June to lying to investigators about his involvement with Francis and was sentenced in San Diego earlier this month to 18 months in prison. He was also ordered to pay a $100,000 fine, pay $50,000 in restitution to the Navy and perform 300 hours of community service.

The Navy also demoted Gilbeau to captain before letting him retire.