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By: Tony Farina

Former Republican State Sen. George Maziarz has leveled charges of bid-rigging against former Niagara County GOP Chairman Henry Wojtaszak in the awarding of a grant writer contract to a firm allegedly favored by Wojtaszak.

Maziarz, who in July of 2014 announced suddenly that he would not seek re-election as federal and state investigators reviewed his campaign spending, called a press conference in Lockport on Wednesday to launch his attack on Wojtaszak and other former aides in connection with the awarding of the $150,000 Niagara County contract to Four Points Communications.

Maziarz, who pleaded guilty last March to filing a false instrument in order to secretly pay a former staffer, released what he said was an FBI document on Wednesday detailing an interview with Michael Norris, also a former Niagara County chairman, which says Wojtaszak urged the county manager, Jeff Glatz, to select a new grant writer and Four Points was eventually awarded the contract.  Wojtaszak’s former law secretary, Melinda Boesken, owned Four Points.

The former senator called it “just like the Buffalo Billion” case where several individuals were charged with bid-rigging.

Maziarz claims $50,000 from the contract awarded to Four Points eventually landed in the bank account of Henry and Caroline Wojtaszak but Henry Wojtaszak has told investigators he earned the money and on Wednesday characterized Maziarz’s charges as an attempt to use the media for political revenge.

At his news conference on Wednesday, Maziarz said former Atty. Gen. Eric Schneiderman overlooked the alleged bid-rigging because he was only interested in charging Maziarz, a political enemy from the bitter State Senate coup back in 2009 when they were on opposite sides.

In a statement on Wednesday, Wojtaszak said “Maziarz is using his former title to manipulate the media to do his political dirty work for him, since the legal system has rejected his false accusations.”

We’ll have more on this story in next week’s editions of the Niagara Reporter.