Fat Leonard, the largest US Navy data hacker, disappeared days before his trial

One of the largest accused of hacking the US Navy managed to escape from his house arrest suddenly, according to what was announced by American media.

VICE reported that the businessman known as "Fat Leonard" disappeared from his luxury home, after a number of police officers came to check his tracking device, which stopped working.

The US authorities accused the man of bribing senior Navy officers, and using his influence to make deals worth millions of dollars by passing lavish gifts and bribes amounting to half a million dollars to a wide network of clients and military employees.

Vice As reported that Leonard Glenn Francis had his "irresistible charm" that enabled him to penetrate US Navy officers better than the Soviets had ever done, as he gained unprecedented access to classified military information through Huge bribery network.

Now, Leonard has achieved yet another daring feat, escaping house arrest just weeks before he is due to be sentenced for orchestrating the Navy's biggest corruption scandal ever.

And Leonard got his nickname, widely known as "Fat Leonard" because of his huge body, weighing more than 100 kilograms and nearly two meters in length.

Malaysian businessman Leonardo cut off his GPS monitoring ankle bracelet on Sunday and fled his home in San Diego, where he has been under house arrest since 2018. Police told reporters on Monday that the monitors arrived at Francis' home worried about his health after being notified of the presence He had a problem with his bracelet, but they couldn't find anyone in the house.

"So far, multiple leads are being investigated," the police commissioner said, adding that Francis' neighbors had seen trucks moving through his home in the days before his escape.

None of them reported their daring and slow escape to the police, although it is not clear if they knew who was staying on the property.

"Security in Francis' home was lax," said journalist Tom Wright, who gave a lengthy interview with Francis last year.

"The fact that we were able to smuggle a microphone into him last year for our podcast, and then the security in his house remained poor, is very strange," he added.

The media said Fat Leonard showered officers with gifts - often during luxury hotel cocktail parties, visits to Michelin-starred restaurants, expensive drinks, and $1,000 cigars in exchange for classified ship schedules and other information.

The figure that Francis defrauded the Navy is believed to be close to $35 million, although some believe the figure is much higher.

"He can hook you up so fast that you don't see it coming... He once crept into the entire command line," an anonymous retired Navy officer close to Francis told The Washington Post in 2016.

Francis was arrested in 2013 and pleaded guilty two years later to offering $500,000 in bribes to Navy officials, although he was never convicted.

 In 2018, the court allowed him to live under house arrest due to health problems, including kidney cancer.

Since then, he has stayed in a multi-million dollar home within a gated community in San Diego with his three children.

The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that the house was guarded by a private security company to ensure he did not escape, but that Francis himself paid for the guard.

More than 200 Navy officers were involved, the media said, with dozens of accused, four of whom were recently convicted of conspiracy, bribery and fraud in June.

The sentencing of Francis has been adjourned after he agreed to be a witness in the final trial, and the sentencing date for Francis has been set for September 22, when he will face up to 25 years in prison.

Journalist Wright commented on the news of Francis' disappearance, "His escape shows that he was desperate to avoid prison."

"Maybe he's sick and wants to see his family and he has nothing to lose," added the journalist, who interviewed Francis for more than 20 hours for his podcast.

"He didn't want to risk being sent to prison even longer."

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