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Wedtech
The
name Wedtech has become synonymous with corporate corruption and
political sleaze.
Three
books have been written on the Wedtech scandal in the Bronx over the
years:.
Feeding
the Beast:
By
Marilyn W. Thompson
This
is a well-written account of the Bronx political / business scandal.
Too
Good to Be True:
The Outlandish Story of Wedtech
By James Traub
Traub,
a freelance N.Y. journalist, skillfully explains why in this sordid
tale of white-collar crime. He shows how a machine shop engaged in
``nickel and dime'' work in a South Bronx slum was transformed
through massive deceit, bribery and influence peddling by people in
high places into a $100-million defense contractor whose founder, an
uneducated Puerto Rican, was lauded by President Reagan as a ``hero
for the 80s.'' Traub tells how John Mariotta, with his business
partners and political allies--only one of them a fellow
Hispanic--exploited a government program setting aside Pentagon
contracts for minority-run businesses. After defrauding both its
stockholders and the government, the company declared bankruptcy in
1986, but by that time, federal investigators were dissecting its
affairs. After six trials, the company's top executives and their
outside conspirators--including two Bronx Congressmen, the Bronx
borough president and a New York National Guard general--were
convicted of charges ranging from extortion to fraud and were
jailed.
Feeding
Frenzy
Is
the other book about Wedtech, written by, William Sternberg and
Matthew C. Harrison Jr.
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