Malaysian defence contractor Leonard Glenn Francis, the man who rocked the US Navy with a multi-million dollar bribery scandal, has been released from detention five years after his arrest and reportedly is suffering from cancer.

A report by the San Diego Union-Tribune claims Francis is no longer in the custody of the US Marshals nor in a federal lockup but is on a medical furlough (humanitarian parole or compassionate release) requested by his attorneys and approved by the federal judge overseeing his case late last year.

The report said he is now living in a small, studio-like apartment above a garage at the home of one of his physicians. He is under guard 24 hours a day by private security guards, which his family, based in Singapore, is paying for.

They are allowed to visit with him for up to three to four hours at a time, and he’s allowed to go to church once a week, Francis was quoted by the Union as saying.

The American's paper report dated Sunday also said that Francis had for the first time testified at a deposition during ongoing court-martial cases the US Navy has brought against several of its high-ranking personnel snared in the scandal.

During the deposition in July, Francis told the military judge he was suffering from renal cancer and has been under the care and treatment of physicians in San Diego following the medical furlough.

As part of a plea agreement Francis entered into in January 2015, he has agreed to forfeit US$35 million to the US government.

To date, he has paid only US$5 million of the amount and did so — as the agreement required — in the first 90 days after he pleaded guilty. There’s no indication of when the rest will be paid, said the Union.

The paper said this may not be unusual as for all his time in custody and the years since he pleaded guilty, Francis has yet to be sentenced for his crimes. Typically, it pointed out, cooperating witnesses like him in multiple-defendant cases are not sentenced until all the cases against other defendants are finished.

At that time, US prosecutors can ask for a reduction in sentencing based on the cooperation of a witness.

The Union said that at the deposition, an attorney had read from the five-page cooperation agreement Francis has with the US government that spells out the possibility of a lesser sentence and asked Francis if he was counting on that.

“I hope so, yes,” Francis answered, as quoted by the Union.

Francis was also asked: “With respect to the forfeiture agreement of US$35 million, was there a schedule set for you to pay the balance of that US$35 million or is it your hope that that amount will somehow be reduced by cooperating?”

“I paid the US$5 million as part of my plea agreement,” Francis reportedly responded, “and the rest of my restitution is, I’ll do my best at the end, sir.”

'Secretly released'

The Union said when the end of the Fat Leonard scandal would occur was “an open question”. Just last month, US federal prosecutors indicted three more people. Another nine defendants indicted in 2017 still have active cases that may go to trial. If any do, Francis will likely testify, it said.

So far, the 21 people who have admitted guilt did so by plea bargains and without a trial, said the paper.

To date, prosecutors have filed charges or secured indictments against 32 defendants, including 27 Navy officials for their roles in accepting bribes from Francis, owner of the ship servicing firm Glenn Defense Marine Asia which has its headquarters in Singapore.

Hundreds more Navy personnel who had interactions with Francis or his company have had their cases reviewed internally by the Navy with several facing court-martial.

An earlier report by the US Department of Defence's "Stars and Stripes" portal, quoting The Washington Post, said Francis was secretly released from federal detention in December so he could receive "urgent medical care" at a San Diego hospital.

It said the 350-pound tycoon was discharged from the hospital in March this year and since then was allowed by the US Justice Department to live in San Diego where he continues to receive medical care.

He is also wheelchair-bound, suffering from knee problems and needed a hernia operation, said the Stars and Stripes report.

In the worst corruption scandal for the US Navy in decades, Francis is accused of bribing senior US Navy personnel with cash, booze, sex and other luxury perks to ensure that Navy ships stopped at ports where his firm offered support services.

He was arrested in September 2013 on fraud and bribery charges and faces up to 25 years in prison.