Bloch Received Merit Raises for Work Rated ‘Well Above Average’

Felix S. Bloch, the U.S. diplomat suspected of spying for the Soviets, received recent merit raises totaling more than $13,000 for work “well above average,” officials said Thursday.

Bloch got a raise of $4,500 for fiscal year 1983-84, $4,000 for 1984-85, and $4,800 for 1985-86, said a U.S. official who spoke only on condition of anonymity. He now reportedly makes about $80,000 a year.

The pay increases were given to Bloch while he served as the deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Vienna, where he was posted from 1980 to 1987.

The State Department calls such raises performance pay awards, granted only to those whose work is deemed “well above average,” said another official, who also insisted on anonymity.

Meanwhile, Bloch on Thursday ended a three-night stay at his father’s East Side co-op in New York City. Trailed by FBI agents and reporters, he drove to his daughter’s house in Chappaqua, N.Y., north of the city.