I’m not outraged by the antics of Fat Leonard; offering bribes and padding expenses is a way of life in many parts of the world. I save my ire for the so-called naval officers who succumbed to his temptations, betraying their oaths for a taste of the good life. It is doubly shameful that this happened in an era when the Fleet they were responsible for was being hollowed out by maintenance, manning and training shortfalls, leading to a deadly 2017 for 17 of our sailors.
This investigation has been dragging on for over 5 years, and I really wish they would get on with it already. Most of these guys will never face justice due to statues of limitation, and the pervasive “different spanks for different ranks” has been on full display.
Ideally all workers in the world should be paid the same, have the same working conditions and be treated equally, but this is not an ideal world and Communism has proven not to work in practise.
Are there cases of abuse of foreign workers in Singapore? Yes there are, but there are also many cases of kindness and unselfish bosses helping workers that have problems.
The system for recruiting foreign labourers from Bangladesh and other countries are far from ideal.
The high fees charged by recruiting agents in the source countries is a big problem, especially when workers gets laid off prematurely for whatever reason. Singapore allow such workers one month stay to try to find a new job, but do not allow idle workers unlimited access.
So as someone else mentioned (along with a helpful video), a better description of Glenn’s operation would be comprehensive ship husbandry/agency/etc over a wide region of Asia.
I’m willing to bet he put the schmooze on more than a few shipping companies as well, but they don’t have the same deep, almost unlimited pockets of Uncle Sam.
It is guaranteed he was padding pockets at other outfits if he was providing services to them. Thats the way all ship chandlers in 3rd world ports work.
Thats why it is often better to switch chandlers up every once in a while when overseas. It keeps the chandlers competing & ensures good service, especially with food. I seen the quality & the price of food roller coaster up & down for years while working overseas. A new chandler would supply good grub at a tolerable price for a few months then the steward department would start complaining, the produce would start getting old, cuts of meats too boney & orders come up short. The vessel would change the chandler & everything would go back to normal for 3-6 months then it would start to go down hill again & we would switch chandlers again.
All chandlers are dirty. This guy so happened to get caught & pissed off the wrong client. I’m not surprised at all.
it’s not the chandler who is the criminal here but the US NAVAL OFFICERS who took the booze, blow and broads to make sure Fat Leonard got the chance to rape the government. They are the ones who need to HANG!
One more time; Glenn Marine Group was not a Ship chandler and did not supply grubb to the US Navy ships (or anyone else for that matter).They may have arranged contact or even contracts between the US Navy and Ship chandlers however and they may have got a commission for doing so.
The case here is a lot bigger than that and involve complete husbanding service in ports throughout Asia and beyond. (See their presentation video in post 8)
Glenn Marine was servicing US and other Navies long before Fat Leonard took over the family firm.
A Ship chandler may be able to overcharge a bit, (many do so) but this is a question of millions and over a long time.
In bribery cases there are two guilty parties, both the givers and the takers. That is why Singapore Law is just as strict on both.
Glenn Marine Group was HQ’erd there and subject to Singapore Law, but the people on the receiving end may not have been, unless they accepted bribes while in Singapore, or were residents there at the time the did so.
I see you are back to this “3rd world” thing again and that cheating is the norm there. I don’t know how you define it, but here is the definition of “3rd world”:
FYI; Singapore is a developed country with a GDP per capita higher than that of USA. It is also a country with the Rule of Law that is actually being enforced.
I agree with you 100% Singapore is one if the most advanced countries in the world. More so than the US or Norway. I always have an awesome time in Singapore & never fell unsafe.
But I don’t know how it was when you worked out of there or how was your operation but from my periodic Singaporean experiences starting in 2003 to just a couple of months ago, a mariner has a 50/50 chance of dealing with a Malaysian, Indonesian, etc compared to working with an honest native Singaporean when conducting ships business. The first time I took fuel there I didn’t know they had 3rd world pirates working the fuel barge & we were shorted about 15%. Now I sound the fuel barge personally, take pictures, use every meter that I can get & threaten that I’ll call the police if the fuel is short & I finally got it down to only being 2-3% short a few months ago. Logic would dictate a ship would eventually be pumped 1-2% more at least once every decade but nope. Always short regardless of the vessel or company. Singapore ship chandlery & shipyard work is the same from my experiences concerning corruption. On land Singapore is a modern marvel but surrounded with 3rd world squalor & criminality IMO. If you don’t believe me take a look at where Mr. Fat Leonard is from.
BTW, I read a couple days ago Fat Leonard was on house arrest in California due to health issues. I also read the his company did provide food, fuel, tug support & ship (ship chandler services). I really don’t know, just going by what I read. Sorry if that article was wrong.
I have called Singapore home since I “drifted ashore” there in 1967 and still do. I lived there most of that time, but worked worldwide, until I became an “Oil Crisis Refugee” here in Norway in 2016…
Yes many of the people you meet when you come in with a ship, whether for bunker, repairs,or whatever will be non-Singaporean, but that doesn’t mean that they are not bound by Singapore Law. The bunker cheat are being dealt with harshly, which has been discussed elsewhere on the forum.
If you were on vessels involved in the offshore oil and gas industry I may have been one of them, inspecting your vessel and asking difficult questions.
Arranging food and fuel supplies, as well as tug support, wharf space and all formalities for inward and outward clearance is normally handled by the Agent. I don’t know if the US Navy used Glenn Marine as Agent, or had other arrangement.
What I do know is that Glenn Marine did not operate as Ship chandler. i.e. they did not store and supply food and other consumables etc. themselves, but they may have arranged Ship chandler service and taken a commission which is quite normal business practice anywhere.
All that is not what this case is about, but the bribing of US Navy Officers and others to divulge scheduled port visits around Asia and possible accepting excessive charges for services actually supplied.
The USA have a law about how much you can markup prices, he is also on the hook for overcharging.
He has to pay back $35 Million and probably get locked up for 25 years, so far…
I hear from my mates when he rented gear from the brits at Sembawang he would shift the decimal point. They were always gobsmacked he got away with it.
They have been holding him waiting for all the others to get charged
