Nofziger Tie to White House Meeting Told

A convicted former official of scandal-torn Wedtech Corp. provided the first details Monday of a key White House meeting that led to an illegal-lobbying charge against Lyn Nofziger, President Reagan’s former political director.

Mario E. Moreno, testifying before a federal court jury, said that the May 19, 1982, meeting was organized by White House aide James E. Jenkins and broke a stalemate that had long held up the award of an Army engine contract to Welbilt Electronic Die Corp., later renamed Wedtech.

Moreno, who was treasurer of the now-bankrupt firm, has pleaded guilty to bribery, conspiracy, larceny and mail fraud charges as part of a deal with independent counsel James C. McKay to cooperate in the conflict-of-interest prosecution of Nofziger and his lobbying partner, Mark A. Bragg.

Crucial Meeting Recounted

The May 19 meeting represented a crucial step in Nofziger’s lobbying on behalf of Welbilt after he left the White House. A month earlier he had met with Jenkins’ boss, then-presidential counselor Edwin Meese III, and followed up with a memo telling Meese that it would be “a blunder” not to give the contract to Welbilt.

Moreno, who attended the May get-together with Bragg and various government and Wedtech officials, said that Jenkins was “controlling the meeting almost completely.”

According to Moreno, Jenkins declared that “the Administration was interested in having this contract come to Welbilt on a very fair basis. He said the Army should make every conceivable effort to give the best price to Welbilt and that other agencies should come up with alternative financing to bridge the gap” between Welbilt’s $34-million bid and the $24 million that the Army was willing to fund.

Moreno, noting that the Army was strongly against awarding the contract to Welbilt, said that Assistant Secretary of the Army J. Raymond Sculley looked as if he had been “dragged in” to the meeting “like a little dog on a leash.”

SBA Financing Offered

The Army refused to budge, he said, but the Small Business Administration indicated that it was considering giving Welbilt--a Bronx, N.Y., firm--$3 million in grants and $2 million in interest-free loans as part of a program to assist minority-owned businesses.

Welbilt officials walked out of the meeting feeling “almost sure” that they had the contract because “we realized that the White House was involved in this project now all the way,” Moreno testified.

Subsequently, Welbilt was awarded a $32-million contract and received the $5 million in SBA financing.