A barracks swindler assigned to Naval Medical Center San Diego bilked a string of petty officers in California out of a combined $142,150, military prosecutors allege.

Electrician’s Mate Fireman Recruit Ko Ndali Aime David Land Kangha, 35, has been charged with four specifications of larceny and wrongful appropriation for allegedly poaching $54,950 from Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Wickbol Monno; $39,900 from Machinist’s Mate-Weapons 2nd Class Wesley Payton; $18,000 from Machinist’s Mate 2nd Class Emmanuel Pohla; and $29,300 from Aviation Boatswain’s Mate-Fuels 3rd Class Toudonou Aguemon, according to legal filings.

Kangha faces two additional specifications for attempting to take $15,000 from Machinist’s Mate 3rd Class Emmett Brown on Sept. 15, 2015 and $7,000 from Cryptologic Technician-Technical 3rd Class Jessmir Edmond on Feb. 7, 2017, according to charge sheets released to Navy Times.

Navy Region Southwest spokesman Brian O’Rourke said that some of the charges are tied to Kangha allegedly using a fake vehicle identification number as a form of collateral and IOUs that he never paid back.

“These charges are more like swindling people and involve promissory notes that went unpaid," said O’Rourke, who noted that Kangha is considered innocent until proven guilty in a military court of law.

Kangha has pleaded not guilty.

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Investigators suspect that the victim who lost the most money, Monno, gave Kangha cash on multiple occasions between Aug. 1, 2015 and Jan. 14, 2016.

Two other sailors — Aguemon and Pohla — allegedly lost their money over the span of just weeks, mostly in December of 2016, according to the charge sheets.

Navy Region Southwest commander Rear Adm. Yancy “Lurch” Lindsey referred Kangha to a general court-martial on Halloween.

Except to voice concern that readers won’t get the full story about what really happened, Kangha said he couldn’t speak about his case because of the upcoming court-martial trial, slated to run March 18 through 22 at Naval Base San Diego.

His military attorney said that he and his client would not comment publicly about his charges before the trial.

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This isn’t Kangha’s first brush with the military criminal justice system.

On Dec. 6, 2016, he pleaded guilty at a special court-martial in San Diego to one specification of attempting to defraud a victim, four specifications of larceny and three specifications of drawing a check without sufficient funds, according to Navy legal records.

A military judge sentenced him to forfeit $1,044 per month for two months and reduced him to the pay grade of a seaman recruit. He also was restricted to Naval Base San Diego for 60 days and received 90 days of hard labor without confinement.

Originally from Texas, Kangha enlisted in the Navy on May 5, 2012, according to his military records.

Before arriving at the hospital in early 2015, he was assigned to Amphibious Construction Battalion 2 in Norfolk.

About Carl Prine

Prine came to Navy Times after stints at the San Diego Union-Tribune and Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. He served in the Marine Corps and the Pennsylvania Army National Guard. His awards include the Joseph Galloway Award for Distinguished Reporting on the military, a first prize from Investigative Reporters & Editors and the Combat Infantryman Badge.

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