Navy SEALs probed in Green Beret’s death may be tied to theft case

WASHINGTON — Two Navy SEAL commandos under investigation in the strangling of an Army Green Beret soldier in June in Mali also have been under scrutiny in the theft of money from a fund used to pay confidential informants, according to three service members briefed on the matter.

One Navy official said that military authorities investigated the allegations earlier this year and concluded there was insufficient evidence to take any criminal action against the commandos, who are members of the elite SEAL Team 6. But another former member of the unit said the inquiry was continuing.

The revelations may shed light on a possible motive in the death of Staff Sgt. Logan J. Melgar, a 34-year-old veteran of two tours in Afghanistan, in the embassy housing he shared in the Malian capital, Bamako, with the two Navy commandos, who were on a secret counterterrorism mission in the impoverished West African nation.

No one has been charged in Melgar’s death, which a medical examiner ruled “a homicide by asphyxiation,” or strangulation. The initial reports to Melgar’s superiors in Germany said he had been injured while wrestling with the two Navy commandos, according to three officials who requested anonymity.

The Naval Criminal Investigative Service took over the case in late September from Army criminal authorities after the status of the two Navy commandos was changed from “witnesses” to “persons of interest,” meaning officials were trying to determine what the commandos knew about the death and whether they were involved.

Until now, the biggest unanswered question in the case has been why Melgar was killed.

A U.S. service member who knew Melgar said he was under the impression that the sergeant had stumbled on some sort of money-skimming scheme involving the Navy commandos. A retired senior enlisted sailor who served in SEAL Team 6 said Melgar discovered the scam and threatened to report the Navy commandos to authorities.

Special Operations troops can earn qualifications that let them recruit sources for intelligence and pay them, sometimes in large amounts.

Skimming money from funds, which in Mali could be as much as $20,000 at any given time, is relatively easy because the service members are often dealing with sources who are illiterate and cannot sign their names to a receipt. This allows an unscrupulous person to create a bogus receipt with the equivalent of an “X” for a signature, military officials said.