State Dept. Suspends Spying Suspect Bloch

Felix Bloch, the American diplomat suspected of spying for the Soviet Union but never charged, was notified today that he is being suspended without pay, the State Department announced.

Deputy spokesman Richard Boucher said the department also is proposing the termination of Bloch’s employment.

Boucher refused to provide details of the action, citing legal considerations. The suspension was to take effect at the close of business today.

Bloch has been notified in writing of the specific charges against him, Boucher said. The diplomat has 30 days in which he may answer the charges and submit any information to show why he should be restored to duty.

Boucher said a hearing will be held on the matter if Bloch requests one.

Two weeks ago there were unofficial reports that the Justice Department had decided not to prosecute Bloch, who was the subject of a massive FBI surveillance last year after it was learned that he had been videotaped passing a suitcase to a Soviet agent in Paris.

Bloch, 54, had been the No. 2 official of the U.S. Embassy in Vienna for much of the Reagan Administration before taking up an assignment in Washington.

Though he was placed on administrative leave in June, he continued to draw his $80,000 annual salary.

The visible agents who maintained watch outside Bloch’s apartment building in Northwest Washington were withdrawn in December, and there were reports at the time that the Justice Department had all but given up hope of prosecuting Bloch on an espionage charge.

Electronic surveillance is said to have picked up Bloch telling his wife that he had accepted payments from the Soviets. A former Viennese prostitute has told a federal grand jury that Bloch spent roughly $10,000 a year for her services over seven years--an amount that investigators cannot find withdrawn from Bloch’s acknowledged bank accounts.

At the same time, the FBI was reported two months ago as having failed to find solid evidence to support espionage charges against Bloch.