November 2, 1973

TRENTON, Nov. 1 — The Federal Environmental Protection Agency said today it planned to order a program to reduce automobile traffic in New Jersey, requiring employers to charge employes high fees for using company parking lots.New York area, would require employers who have 50 or more employes and who provide parking spaces for at least 70 vehicles, to charge $1 above the going commercial parking rate in the vicinity if only one person is occupying a car.

US Repr G R Ford, Mich Repub, denies on Nov 1 that he had ever laundered' campaign funds, that he had exchanged favors in return for campaign contributions, and that he had recd $15,000 loan from one-time Washington lobbyist, Sen Rules Com confirmation hearings on Pres Nixon's nomination of him to be Vice Pres; com members question Ford closely about so-called laundered campaign funds, $11,500 in '70 contributions that he said he turned over to Repub Cong Campaign Com for use of others; Ford asserts that he did not rept contributions but was certain campaign com had done so; concedes that campaign com had sent him about $13,000 but holds no attempt had been made to evade law; confirms, under questioning, that com organized in Dist of Columbia raised $38,216 for his re-election in '72, shortly before new campaign reptg law became effective; Ford illus

Flow of Jews from USSR through Vienna, Austria, remains undiminished despite recent Middle East war, despite Soviet backing of Arab side and Austrian Govt's decision under pressure from Arab terrorists in Sept to close down Schonau transit camp for emigrants; Austrian Govt, apparently in face-saving gesture after turmoil over Chancellor B Kreisky's capitulation to terrorists, announced that it plans to open new transit facility at Traiskirchen within 2 wks; main thing that has changed since guerrilla affair is that most emigrants spend at most 1 day on Austrian soil before continuing on, most of them to Israel; previously many spent several days before going on; new facility apparently will be run by Intergovernmental Com for European Migration, non-pol body sponsored by 30 countries; Vienna chief of Mission of Intergovernmental Comm K Summers says that orgn is negotiating arrangements with Austrian authorities to take over mgt of transit operation; Israeli Embassy officials and Austrian Foreign Min R Kirchschlaeger note that relations, severely strained because of Schonau incident, are better; group of 350 Soviet Jews, who have decided to return to USSR rather than stay in Israel and currently are awaiting reentry permission from USSR in Vienna, discuss their plight; map

Secret Service agents J Baker and R C Zumwalt testify on Nov 1 in Fed Dist Ct that more than 30 tape recordings of Pres conversations were removed from safe by White House aides at request of Pres Nixon and that their return was never recorded; Pres counsel J F Buzhardt Jr says 'all tapes made on White House system are still in existence in their entirety' and secure in secret room in Exec Office Bldg; there is testimony that 1 tape was taken from safe at Nixon's request more than 3 mos before Nixon aides said that it did not contain key Watergate conversation; White House revises its explanation for 1 missing tape; Pres's attys said on Oct 31 that 6-hr tape ran out before conversation between Nixon and ex-White House counsel J W Dean 3d began on Apr 15; Zumwalt says his records show that Pres asst S Bull took 26 tapes out of Exec Office Bldg safe June 4 but that they were never logged back in; says Bull took on on July 11 a tape that purported to cover all conversations held in Pres's hideaway in Exec Office Bldg from Apr 11 through Apr 16; Buzhardt says on Nov 1 that 1 6-hr tape was available in office in Exec Office Bldg to record Apr 14-15 weekend and that it was exhausted during busy weekend of talk before Nixon-Dean conversation began in evening of Apr 15; says no attempt to audit Apr 15 tape for Nixon-Dean conversation was made until last weekend because 'we thought we were going to win suit' brought by then special Watergate prosecutor A Cox to obtain tapes for grand jury; illus of log of Pres tapes kept by Zumwalt and receipt signed by Bull for tapes removed from Exec Office Bldg

20 former execs and employes of bankrupt Equity Funding Corp of Amer and 2 of co's former auditors are accused on Nov 1 in 105-count indictment handed down by Fed grand jury after 7-mo investigation by SEC, FBI, Postal Inspection Service and others of 1 of nation's biggest business scandals; defendants are charged with manufacturing estimated $120-million in fictitious assets and creating through computer manipulation about 60,000 bogus life-ins policies for nonexistent persons; heading list of defendants is former chmn and pres of Equity, S Goldbaum, and former exec vps F Levin and S B Lowell; other defendants listed; indictment charges all defendants with conspiracy to commit securities fraud, filing of false documents with SEC, bank fraud, interstate transportation of securities taken by fraud and of counterfeit securities, and electronic eavesdropping; indictment alleges that between Jan '65 and Apr '73 defendants manufactured fictitious assets that in turn inflated value of Equity Funding stock to the benefit of defendants, who sold shares during the period, and to detriment of Equity Funding stockholders, banks and others who did business with the co; charges accountants with intentionally conducting incomplete audits of co which effected an increase in price of Equity stock and bolstered investor confidence, thereby enabling Equity to borrow money from banks and conduct their other business at artificially inflated prices; electronic eavesdropping allegedly took place in Mar '73, in room where state ins inspectors examined co's books; NYSE dirs vote on Nov 1 to apply to SEC to delist Equity Funding