A one-star US Navy admiral will be pleading guilty to lying to federal investigators in the wide-ranging ‘Fat Leonard’ corruption scandal, his lawyer said.

Rear Adm Robert Gilbeau, a special assistant to the chief of the Navy Supply Corps, is supposed to appear before the US District Court in San Diego late yesterday, where he will be pleading guilty to one count of making a false statement to investigators.

“In this unfortunate situation, he accepts responsibility for the decisions he made and for his conduct,” lawyer David Benowitz said, as reported by The Washington Post.

However, he did not specify the allegations made against his client.

After pleading guilty, Gilbeau would be the highest-ranking officer to be convicted in this case, with four other officers already having pled guilty and facing prison sentences.

The ‘Fat Leonard’ corruption scandal involves the diverting of US navy ships to several Southeast Asian ports owned by Malaysian contractor 'Fat' Leonard Francis (photo).

Francis had pleaded guilty last year to bribing a number of US Navy officials, said The Washington Post.

He admitted to bribing Navy officials with “cash, sex, and gifts worth millions of dollars”, said the US daily, so he could win more defence contracts and fleece the Navy of US$35 million in excessive charges.

Francis was chief executive of Singapore-based company Glenn Defence Marine Asia Ltd (GDMA) which serviced US warships in the Pacific region for years by providing fuel, food and other services.

People familiar with the matter told The Washigton Post last month that Gilbeau had been under scrutiny by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) for his ties to Francis.

The report also said that this might be the biggest corruption scandal to hit the Navy, with a US federal prosecutor saying last year that 200 individuals were under investigation.

About 30 of them are admirals, Navy officials have said.

In this case, 14 people have been charged, including Gilbeau, and a former Navy contracting official has been charged with corruption by Singapore authorities.

More arrests are expected, according to prosecutors, the report read.