Special prosecutor clears Henry Wojtaszek

More than a year and a half of investigation by a special prosecutor has resulted in exoneration of any wrongdoing by former Niagara County Republican Chairman Henry F. Wojtaszek.

In a letter to Wojtaszek attorney Stephen Sercu obtained by The Buffalo News, Monroe County District Attorney Sandra Doorley said she found no basis for prosecuting Wojtaszek over claims brought by former State Sen. George D. Maziarz, R-Newfane, his one-time friend and mentor. Maziarz claimed in February of 2019 that a newly-discovered legal document pointed to “bid-rigging” for a favored firm connected to Wojtaszek.

"After having issued numerous subpoenas and having conducted multiple interviews, and after a thorough review of same, I have concluded that there is no criminal impropriety in relation to Four Points Communications or your client," Doorley told Sercu, "either for the bid process or the financial dealings of the company."

The News reported in June of 2019 that Doorley's office had issued several subpoenas in her investigation.

Doorley was appointed as special prosecutor by Justice Paula L. Feroleto, administrative judge of the Eighth Judicial District of State Supreme Court, because Wojtaszek's wife – Caroline – is the Niagara County district attorney. Since then, Doorley’s investigators have looked into the claims that Henry Wojtaszek pressured county officials in 2014 to deliver a grant writing contract to Four Points. At the time, the firm was headed by Melinda Boesken, Wojtaszek’s one-time personal law secretary.

In February of 2019, Maziarz produced documentation of 2016 FBI interviews with Michael J. Norris, a former Niagara County Republican chairman who was elected to the Assembly later that year. Maziarz said Norris told FBI agents about the process of hiring a new grant writing firm for Niagara County that the former senator says was predestined for Four Points.

Maziarz, who dominated Republican politics in Niagara County for many years, also said a forensic audit he commissioned to review his allegations of thefts from his campaign accounts shows checks totaling $50,000 from the Four Points contract were deposited in a joint bank account maintained by Henry and Caroline Wojtaszek.

Henry Wojtaszek said he earned his compensation from Four Points for services rendered, according to a 2016 FBI report. Wojtaszek said he reviewed grant applications for Four Points, contacted state officials about the availability of grants and attended meetings at Four Points offices.

Wojtaszek, an attorney, always denied the allegations, pointing to a 2018 opinion by the State Bar Association’s Grievance Committee dismissing Maziarz’s request for disciplinary action in connection with the Four Points allegations.

But Maziarz said Wojtaszek instructed then-County Manager Jeff Glatz to assemble a request for proposals seeking a new county grant writer.

“Wojtaszek told Glatz they needed to get Four Points Communications in there,” the FBI report of the Norris interview reads. “Glatz set up a committee for the RFP and they chose Four Points Communications as the new vendor for grant writing. Norris attended a breakfast meeting with Glatz where it was discussed that it was important to get the grant writing contract over to Four Points Communications.”

Despite the special prosecutor's determination, Scrutiny of Wojtaszek's WROTB operation continues on the federal level. In April of 2019, the FBI began a probe of potential cronyism in contracts given to firms headed by men with political connections to WROTB executives. No action has resulted to date.

Maziarz said he plans no further legal action, adding he believes his request gave way to the FBI probe underway.

"It's more focused on OTB now," he said. "It took so long I sort of forgot about it."

But the bitter feud between the two former friends continues as Wojtaszek issued a blistering statement late Monday.

"I am pleased but not surprised with the decision by the Monroe County District Attorney. It is both sad and pathetic that a former elected official with an ax to grind seems obsessed with attacking me and my family. He continues to make baseless and unsubstantiated claims about me and my family," he said. "This is just another example where his claims have proven to be untrue.

"My family and I are hopeful that this decision represents the last time we need to defend ourselves against the bizarre accusations from this vengeful, disgraced and irrelevant politician," he added.

Maziarz, meanwhile, has also been the subject of legal action. He was indicted in 2017 on five felony counts connected to Republican campaigns in Niagara County, eventually pleading guilty in 2018 to a campaign finance misdemeanor. He paid a $1,000 fine.

The former senator also failed in 2018 to obtain prosecution of former aides he claimed stole from his campaign account. Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn, appointed to review Maziarz’s claims that more than $350,000 remained missing, determined in 2019 that he could not prosecute any crime connected with missing funds.