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Prosecutors' filings in the Francis case suggest there was a consistent pattern of gifts from Francis followed by Navy favors, tantamount to quid pro quos. The three Navy officials charged in the case so far allegedly accepted travel, hotel suites and the services of female escorts. Francis apparently had as many prostitutes as piers in various Asian cities, including Kuala Lumpur, Manila and Singapore, "based on the content of e-mails between Francis and the Escort Service Provider, including many pictures of young women along with their age, height and bra size," a Pentagon investigator said in a sworn statement. All three U.S. officials who have been charged so far have pleaded not guilty.
Francis, 49, a Malaysian national who lives in Singapore, was well positioned to benefit from a Navy that never worried much about tracking its bills. Glenn Marine Defense Asia was founded by Francis' grandfather after World War II and grew to span ports in more than a dozen nations that had been supplying U.S. Navy vessels for more than 25 years. Francis himself is charming and engaging, says retired Navy captain Kevin Eyer, who met him for the first time at a 2005 Christmas party in Hong Kong. Francis, Eyer says, made "a conscious effort to cultivate officers for the day that they might be able to prove helpful to him."
Francis' first key contact in the Navy appears to have been a 7th Fleet logistician, Commander Jose Sanchez, who allegedly began sharing classified data with Francis in 2009, according to federal documents filed in the case. Francis gave Sanchez more than $100,000 in cash, along with travel, upscale hotel stays and prostitutes, after Sanchez began serving as the fleet's deputy logistics officer in Yokosuka, Japan. Francis allegedly hired female escorts for Sanchez and unnamed Navy friends who traveled to Kuala Lumpur and Singapore in 2009 and nicknamed themselves the Wolf Pack. Sanchez asked for pictures of the women for "motivation." Francis was happy to oblige: "We will hook up after the FLAG dinner, will arrange a nest for you guys and some birds." Sanchez appreciated the effort: "Yummy ... daddy like."
Francis asked Sanchez to "swing" business to his operation at the Thai port of Laem Chabang, which lacked a prenegotiated Pentagon fuel deal. "Ask and you shall receive," Sanchez e-mailed Francis. "We worked this out this morning ..." The destroyer U.S.S. Mustin spent more than $1 million on fuel during a 2011 visit there, more than double the cost of buying fuel from a husbanding agent with a prenegotiated contract.
Francis also trained his sights on Commander Michael Vannek Khem Misiewicz, who in 2011 was serving as the 7th Fleet's deputy operations officer. "We gotta get him hooked on something," Francis told his Japanese manager, who was also a former Navy officer. Their goal: bring the U.S.S. John C. Stennis, a Nimitz-class carrier, to Francis' facility at Malaysia's Port Klang. After allegedly providing Misiewicz with Lion King tickets and other favors, the officer responded by e-mailing the fleet's upcoming port-visit schedule to the company. The Japanese manager e-mailed Francis, "We got him!!"