Agnew sued for bribe cash

Press, 20 April 1981, Page 6

Agnew sued for bribe cash

NZPA Maryland The long-delayed trial of a novel civil damage claim ..against the former American Vice-President, Spiro Agnew, is scheduled to open this week, without his presence but with the prospect of new details about the kickback charges that forced his resignation in 1973. The taxpayers’ suit, which will. open in Annapolis, Maryland, Mr Agnew’s home State, oh Wednesday, seeks to have Mr Agnew pay back to the state the money he was accused of taking in bribes from. Maryland contractors ■•from 1967 fo 1972; The total,

including accumulated interest on $150,000 could run as high as $350,000. Any judgement in Maryland could be collected in .California, where Mr Agnew now lives with his wife, Elinore, in a condominium community next to a golf course at Rancho Mirage, near Palm Springs. His neighbours include former President Gerald Ford, who succeeded him as Vice-Presi-dent, but the two are not reported to be on friendly terms. Mr Agnew’s main vocation now is that of an international trade consultant dealing with Arab oil interests. r , ...... . The original complainants

were three Maryland citizens who contended that, as taxpayers, they were defrauded and were forced to pay additional taxes to the state government to make up for ‘ the higher cost of state contracts stemming from the payment of kickbacks by engineering' concerns from .1967 to 1969; when Mr Agnew was Governor of Maryland. According to court documents, the payments continued after January 20, 1969, when Mr Agnew became Vice-President. The citizens’ suit ’is a class-action complaint for all Maryland taxpayers, and .under state law they must pursue a complicated proof

of ‘‘special damages”, involving large, theoretical extrapolations by economists, engaged as experts. When the citizens’ standing to sue was challenged on this point, however, the state of Maryland was allowed to join as a complainant. Lawyers • for the state think the claim has already been proved in documents brought into the case file, over Mr Agnew’s objections, through nearly five years of pretrial manoeuvering. Mr Agnew was forced to resign the vice-presidency after investigators uncovered his corruption. He was allowed to plead “no contest" to charges subsequently brought against him.