as part of the prisoner swap, venezuela also returned to the fugitive malaysian businessmen leonard glenn francisn as fat leonard, he's accused of masterminding a massive corruption scandal here in asia. it's a remarkable story. let's get the details with tom wright, who made the podcast fat leonard. great to have you on the programme. first, if you can, give us a brief overview of what fat leonard is accused of? fat leonard, leonard glenn francis, was accused of bilking the us navy for least $135 million over decades. he was a contractor, the people food, fuel and security into ships, and after september 11, he made huge amounts of money by overcharging the navy. he would put defensive rings around, stop al-qaeda attacks, steel drums and charge millions of dollars for it. the reason he got away with it is he was also helping out senior navy officers, he was giving them crystal champagne, rolex watches, he was hosting parties for them, watches, he was hosting parties forthem, involving for them, involving prostitutes, and forthem, involving prostitutes, and so this whole scheme went on for years

as part of the prisoner swap, venezuela also returned the fugitive malaysian businessman, leonard glenn franciso the us. known as fat leonard, he is accused of masterminding a massive corruption scandal here in asia. tom wright made a podcast about him. leonard was furious because he thought he had pleaded guilty to what i have just described. he got cancer and was allowed out ofjail in venezuela. he was wearing an ankle monitoring bracelet and he watched and i agree with him as admiral after admiral who were involved with him were not taken to court. if you look at who was taken to court in the us it was more lower—level officers. 30 or so people were charged. a bunch did jail time. the recent court cases where number of other officers have collapsed. leonard escaped. he tried to board, he went into mexican and then venezuela and he almost got to russia. he was trying to board a plane to russia when he was arrested by venezuelan authorities and now he has been brought back to the us for sentencing. he has already pleaded guilty. how long is expected to be sentenced for? he could get decades in

but as part of the prisoner swap, venezuela also returned the fugitive malaysian businessman leonard glenn francis he is accused of masterminding a massive corruption scandal here in asia. tom wright made a podcast about him. he told me the remarkable story. he told me the remarkable sto . ., , ., , he told me the remarkable sto. , story. he was furious because what he thought _ story. he was furious because what he thought was - story. he was furious because what he thought was he - story. he was furious because | what he thought was he would plead guilty to all of this that i have just described and then he got cancer, he was allowed out ofjail in san diego and put into home detention. he was wearing an ankle monitoring bracelet and he watched — and i agree with him — as admiral after admiral who were involved with him were not taken to court criminally. if you look at who was taken to court in the us, it was more lower—level officers. i think 30 or so people were charged. a bunch did jail time. the recent court cases of a number of other officers have collapsed. so leonard then escaped. he trie

they will return leonard glenn francis, known as fat leonard, to the us. the largest fraudsters in the us. in exchange, they have returned a man accused of laundering money on behalf of the maduro government. it's all part of the biden administration's efforts to improve relation with venezuela and push mr maduro to hold fair elections next year. we have no higher priority than the release of americans held hostage. in addition to that, venezuela thus far is keeping their commitment towards the democratic elections. it's not over yet. they have made detailed commitments, we'll see if they hold them. we're going to hold them accountable. around the world and across the uk — this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. 44 million voters in the democratic republic of congo are taking part in a presidential election that has been extended into thursday, after being marred by lengthy delays and claims of fraud. long queues have been reported at many polling stations across the country's capital kinshasa. president felix tshisekedi is facing 1

also released was the notorious former defence contractor leonard glenn francis known as �*fat leonardne of the us navy's largest corruption cases. in exchange, the us has freed alex saab, an aide and top ally to venezuela's president, nicolas maduro. he was accused of laundering money on behalf of the maduro government, which he denies. mr maduro is also releasing 20 venezuelan political prisoners. it's all part of the biden administration's efforts to improve relations with venezuela and push mr maduro to hold fair elections next year. venezuela thus far is keeping their commitment towards the democratic elections. it's not over yet. they have made detailed commitments, we'll see if they hold them. but we're going to hold them accountable. venezuela's president, nicolas maduro, celebrated the deal. trans—mac tra ns—mac hopefully they trans—mac hopefully they will find a process of respect, equal treatment and understanding between the united states and venezuela. today, a step has been taken that will hopefully contribute to that path. live now to our reporter mimi swaby. biden empha

venezuela sent back ten americans plus fugitive malaysian defense contractor leonard glenn francis francis, also known as fat leonard, escaped u.s. custody last year. francis pleaded guilty to the $35 billion scheme, which used prostitutes, luxury travel and cash to bribe u.s. naval officers into steering lucrative contracts to his companies. as part of the deal, president biden says president maduro also gave assurances he would allow fair elections. biden also saying lifted sanctions could snap back if venezuela doesn't uphold its end of the deal. andrew. >> all right, justin, thank you. former president trump is expected to appeal to the supreme court as early as next week after being removed from the ballot in colorado. the ruling by colorado's highest court is based on the 14th amendment, which bans insurrection from holding office. 16 other states are considering similar moves, and officials in california are now exploring options to remove trump from their ballot. opponents of the colorado ruling argue trump has not been convicted for his alleged role in the january 6th insurrection

the release includes infamous former defence contractor leonard glenn francis — known as fat leonard.e's at the center of one of the us navy's largest corruption cases. in exchange — the us has freed alex saab, an aide and top ally to venezuela's president nicolas maduro, accused of laundering money on behalf of the maduro government, which he denies. mr maduro is also releasing 20 venezuelan political prisoners. it's all part of the biden administration's efforts to improve relations with venezuela, and push mr maduro to hold fair elections next year. earlier, i spoke with our reporter mimi swaby about the deal. president byers was emphasising that this was all about encouraging venezuela to hold free and fair elections. how much leveraged you think the biden administration has in that regard? this is yet another sign of significant flowing between relations between the us and venezuela after months of really high—level negotiations. this comes as biden is grappling with a worsening situation on the southern us border largely driven by venezuelan migrants pushing us federal resources

defense contractor leonard glenn francis, also known as fat leonard. the man behind a $35 million bribery scheme, the largest corruption scandal in u.s. military history. in 2015, he pleaded guilty to using prostitutes, luxury travel, and cash to bribe u.s. naval officers to steer lucrative contracts to his companies. a scheme he described in an interview for an investigative podcast produced by project brazen in 2021. >> everybody was in my pocket. i had them in my palm. i was just rolling them around. >> reporter: just three weeks before his sentencing last year, francis, under house arrest, staged a stunning escape, cutting off his ankle monitor. after weeks on the run, he was finally captured in venezuela. in exchange for francis and the ten americans, the u.s. granting clemency to alex saab, a top ally of venezuela's authoritarian president, nicolas maduro. saab was arrested in 2020 for money laundering. today, the two men back together at the presidential palace. >>> tonight, the horrific images just in here. the newly released police video of th

venezuela sent back ten americans plus fugitive malaysian defense contractor leonard glenn francis francisalso known as fat leonard, escaped u.s. custody last year. francis pleaded guilty to the $35 billion scheme, which used prostitutes, luxury travel and cash to bribe u.s. naval officers into steering lucrative contracts to his companies. as part of that deal, president biden says president maduro also gave assurances he would allow fair elections. biden also saying lifted sanctions could snap back if venezuela doesn't uphold its end of the deal. justin finch, abc news, washington. well is already on. >> this is a live look. this morning from new york city. that giant 20-24. you see the numerals have arrived at times square in time for initial lighting ceremony five, four, three, two, one. >> happy new year. yes. >> okay. you know, you gotta make sure it works. the numbers have been on tour at holiday events from coast to coast. they're going to be moved from the broadway plaza to one times square on the 31st. and that's when the real festivities start. dick clark's new year's rockin eve

exchange for saab venezuela sent back ten americans plus fugitive malaysian defense contractor leonard glenn francis us custody last year. francis pleaded guilty to the $35 billion scheme, which used prostitutes, luxury travel and cash to bribe us naval officers into steering lucrative contracts to his companies. as part of that deal, president biden says president maduro also gave assurances he would allow fair elections. biden also saying lifted sanctions could snap back if venezuela doesn't uphold its end of the deal. justin finch abc news, washington. a new study suggests driverless cars are safer than cars with humans behind the wheel. >> mountain view based waymo says it's fully driverless. taxis have a 90% lower crash rate than human drivers in san francisco. the study covered a little more than 7 million miles in three cities, including more than a million and a half miles in san francisco. >> we compare those to with each other. we see that we're involved in far fewer crashes as we're involved, involved in far fewer injuries and police reports, you know, 7 million miles sounds like a lot, b

separately, caracas also returned fugitive malaysian defense contractor leonard glenn francis, who is implicated in a major pentagon bribery scandal. as he welcomed alex saab back at a caracas news conference, president maduro welcomed the prisoner exchange as a positive step in u.s.-venezuela relations. >> hopefully, it we will be found for respect, equal treatment, and understanding between the united states of america and the republic of venezuela. a step has been taken that will hopefully contribute to that path. amy: in argentina, new president javier milei ordered a major deregulation of the national economy wednesday. the far-right libertarian followed through on his campaign promise, using executive powers to undo or change 300 rules. these include eliminating laws regulating rents and preventing the privatization of state companies. milei also announced measures to deregulate labor, trade, tourism, pharmaceuticals, and other areas. following the announcement, thousands of people took to the streets in the first public demonstration since his inauguration and his threats to cr