YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan -- 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, U.S. 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 U.S. 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 U.S. 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 “pearl 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 U.S. 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.
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