Firm’s Lawyer Is Convicted in Navy Bribe Case

A federal jury convicted a Washington lawyer Friday of conspiring to bribe a Navy official to help a Southern California electronics firm obtain millions of dollars in Navy contracts.

Sheldon Matzkin, 66, became the 52nd person convicted in the Justice Department’s long-running Ill Wind investigation, aimed at rooting out Pentagon fraud. Seven defense contracting firms also have been found guilty since the investigation began in 1988, and the government has recovered $250 million.

The California firm, Nav/Com Defense Electronics Inc. of El Monte, was not accused of any wrongdoing. But Assistant U.S. Atty. Joseph J. Aronica of Alexandria, Va., who is leading the Ill Wind prosecution, told reporters that “the investigation is continuing” of companies and officials associated with Matzkin.

Tom Abbott, an attorney for Nav/Com, said the firm is a successor to Gould-Nav/Com, a subsidiary of Gould Co. of Chicago, for which Matzkin had worked until 1989.

“It’s a new firm,” Abbott said. “The employees bought it out and took it private.”

Abbott said employees who knew Matzkin were pleased that he was acquitted of three other felony charges, including two charging specific acts of bribery that had involved his work for the El Monte firm.

Matzkin faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine when he is sentenced on March 12.

The conspiracy charge on which he was convicted said he routinely billed Nav/Com for legal services but illegally shared about $50,000 of his fees over a 10-year period with Stuart E. Berlin, a Navy engineer and contracting officer, who improperly provided inside information to Matzkin to enable Nav/Com to obtain government contracts for radar testing devices.

Berlin, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy and fraud charges three years ago, was the government’s star witness against Matzkin. Berlin served an 18-month prison sentence and paid fines of $25,000. He also admitted receiving cash payoffs from other defense consultants.

Evidence at the trial revealed that Berlin had taken bribes to help a competitor of Nav/Com obtain contracts at the same time he was getting payoffs from Matzkin.