‘Fat Leonard’, contractor in US navy’s worst corruption scandal, flees house arrest

Leonard Francis pleaded guilty in 2015 to offering $500,000 in bribes to navy officers to steer work to his shipyards

A Malaysian businessman who pleaded guilty in the US navy's worst corruption scandal has escaped house arrest in San Diego after cutting off his monitoring bracelet, federal authorities have said.

Leonard Glenn Francis, known as Fat Leonard, who pleaded guilty in 2015 to offering $500,000 in bribes to navy officers, was due to be sentenced in a few weeks.