A former senior Navy civilian is facing 25 years in prison after being convicted last month for taking bribes from the owner of a Korean port services company, according to the Justice Department.
Fernando Xavier Monroy, 64, was convicted Aug. 19 in federal court on charges of bribery, conspiracy to commit bribery and making a false statement for crimes that occurred while he was director of operations for the Military Sealift Command office in Busan, South Korea.
According to the Justice Department and court records, Monroy conspired with the owner of DK Marine, a South Korea-based port husbanding company to “unlawfully provide services” to a Navy cargo ship during a December 2013 port visit to Chinhae.
Monroy provided DK Marine’s owner with “confidential and other proprietary, internal U.S. Navy information” on port visits, according to court records and a statement announcing the conviction.
In return, the owner provided Monroy with cash, meals, booze, personal travel expenses and prostitutes.
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According to a 2020 Defense Criminal Investigative Service agent affidavit, DK Marine’s owner, Sung Yol “David” Kim, told agents that he and Monroy went to “room salons” where prostitutes could be hired on at least 10 occasions.
“Monroy requested that Kim pay for ‘seconds,’ i.e., prostitution services, and Kim complied,” the agent wrote in the affidavit. “Kim also provided over $30,000 in ‘loans’ to Monroy, all but one of which were not repaid, and paid for airplane tickets and hotel rooms for Monroy during personal travel that they took together.”
The civilian captain of the dry dock ship Charles Drew, which was at the center of the December 2013 port visit, also debriefed authorities regarding his part in the conspiracy, according to court records.
Kim emailed Monroy in early 2011 and called him big brother, according to the affidavit.
“Let’s make some real money now bro!” Kim wrote, the affidavit states.
Monroy also lied repeatedly to federal agents during an interview in July 2019, according to the department.
Monroy, of Brentwood, New York, served in the position from 2006 to 2014 and is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 18.
His defense attorney listed in court records did not respond to a request for comment.
Monroy was arrested in the Philippines in September 2020, according to media reports.
News of Monroy’s conviction comes as the proverbial commanding officer of Navy port service bribery scandals, “Fat Leonard” Glenn Francis, remained on the lam Wednesday after disappearing from his San Diego house arrest home on Sunday.
Authorities say Francis may have already slipped across the border into Mexico and could be on his way back to Asia, The Associated Press reported Tuesday.
Francis was slated to be sentenced in the coming weeks after pleading guilty to bilking the Navy out of more $35 million and bribing scores of officers in the West Pacific.
Geoff is the managing editor of Military Times, but he still loves writing stories. He covered Iraq and Afghanistan extensively and was a reporter at the Chicago Tribune. He welcomes any and all kinds of tips at geoffz@militarytimes.com.
