Bronx Politician Charged With Extortion, Perjury

A top city politician was indicted today by a federal grand jury on charges of extortion, perjury, income tax evasion and obstruction of justice in connection with an investigation of Wedtech Corp., the Bronx-based defense contractor.

Former Bronx Borough President Stanley Simon, who resigned the post March 11 because he expected the indictment, was charged on three counts of extortion, one count of perjury, one count of income tax evasion and one count of obstruction of justice.

The indictment charged Simon with extorting a job at Wedtech, and salary increases totaling $133,000, for his brother-in-law, Henry Bittman. The raises allegedly were paid between 1981 and 1986.

He was also charged with extorting $50,000 in cash contributions and payments for expenses from Wedtech from mid-1984 through the end of 1985 and extorting $14,000 in salary kickbacks from an employee in the Bronx borough president’s office from 1983 through early this year. The employee was not named.

The indictment, announced at a news conference by U.S. Atty. Rudolph Giuliani and Bronx Dist. Atty. Mario Merola, said Simon also failed to report $23,000 in income on his 1985 federal taxes. Simon said his and his wife’s combined income was $101,000 when it actually was $124,000, according to the indictment.

If found guilty, Simon faces a maximum sentence of up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each of the three extortion counts, and five years in jail and $250,000 on each of the other counts.