SIMON INDICTED IN WEDTECH <WDT> CASE
Stanley Simon was charged with
extorting 50,000 dlrs from a defense contractor in the first
indictment in a corruption probe involving two Congressmen, a
former aide to President Reagan and other government officials.
    Simon, who resigned last month as Bronx Borough President,
was accused of extorting the money and forcing the now bankrupt
contractor, the Wedtech Corp., to hire his brother-in-law and
then give him raises.
    Simon is also accused of perjury and forcing one of his
employees to pay him 14,000 dlrs in salary kickbacks.
    He is the first public official to be indicted for
demanding money from Wedtech, a minority-owned company that
builds pontoon bridges for the Defense Department.
    "Wedtech was one of the success stories in the Bronx, but
the company was manipulated and raped," Thomas Scheer, the head
of the FBI's New York office, said of the payoffs the company
allegedly made to win contracts.
    Wedtech executives have said they paid bribes to about 20
government officials.
    Law enforcement sources say two Bronx congressmen, Mario
Biaggi and Robert Garcia, are under investigation.
    A special federal prosecutor has been appointed to
determine whether former Reagan aide Lyn Nofziger acted
improperly when he became a Wedtech consultant four months
after leaving the White House.
    Nofziger was given up to 1 mln dlrs in Wedtech stock.

 Reuter
