A Malaysian businessman at the heart of a massive bribery scandal involving the US Navy has escaped house arrest, the US Marshals Service has said. Leonard Glenn Francis, known as “Fat Leonard,” cut his ankle bracelet off before disappearing from his San Diego home and is now reportedly on the run. It comes three weeks before he was due for sentencing. He had pleaded guilty in 2015 to bribing US Navy officers in exchange for lucrative military contracts. The US Justice Department said the scheme was a colossal fraud that cost the Navy tens of millions of dollars. Supervisory Deputy US Marshal Omar Castillo told news outlets that Mr Francis had cut off his GPS bracelet and fled from his home sometime on Sunday morning.(BBC)…[+]