September 30, 1986

A few months after becoming City Investigation Commissioner in 1982, Patrick W. McGinley dismissed as ''unhelpful, to say the least'' allegations of corruption at the Taxi and Limousine Commission. Four years later, similar allegations led to the indictment of the commission chairman, Jay L. Turoff. Mr. McGinley made the statement in a letter that was distributed yesterday by State Senator Emanuel R. Gold, a Queens Democrat, who called for an investigation of why the allegations had not been pursued. But Mayor Koch said there had been enough investigations into the Department of Investigation as it was run during the tenure of Mr. McGinley, who resigned earlier this year.

Comsat, struggling to recover the growth rates it grew accustomed to in the early days of communications satellites, said yesterday that it would merge with the Contel Corporation in an exchange of stock worth about $2.4 billion. Under the agreement, Comsat, formally the Communications Satellite Corporation, will retain its name and pursue its unique role as the Federal Government's chief vehicle for operating communications satellites in cooperation with foreign nations. But control of the company will go to top executives at Contel, which is attempting to speed its entry into the unregulated portions of the telecommunications business - including internal communications for the nation's largest companies and sales of advanced telecommunications equipment to the Federal Government. Contel's primary business is the operation of local telephone companies in 30 states.

A Queens grand jury returned the first indictment yesterday in a months-long investigation into allegations of bribery in the awarding of cable television franchises in the borough. The indictment was kept under seal by Acting Justice Seymour Rotker in State Supreme Court. Lawyers familiar with the investigation said those who have been under scrutiny in the inquiry include John A. Zaccaro, a real-estate broker and the husband of former Representative Geraldine A. Ferraro of Queens; Michael A. Nussbaum, a public-relations executive and former city official active in Queens politics, and Justice Francis X. Smith, administrative judge of State Supreme Court in Queens. #5-Year Statute of Limitations According to lawyers familiar with the investigation, the five-year statute of limitations under which Mr. Nussbaum could be charged expires this week. The grand jury has several weeks more to complete its inquiry of Mr. Zaccaro, because his actions that are under investigation occurred later than Mr. Nussbaum's, lawyers said. No decision concerning Justice Smith is anticipated until he has the opportunity to testify again this week, at his request.

Pulling back from its commitment to run a financial supermarket with a diverse array of businesses, Merrill Lynch & Company announced yesterday that it had decided to sell its large real estate services operations to focus more on its basic securities businesses, particularly in the international arena. The decision, which could raise at least $500 million of new capital for the firm, is as much a sign of the times on Wall Street, which is facing new opportunities and stiffer competition in the international market, as it is an important strategic move for Merrill Lynch, the country's largest securities brokerage. Merrill Lynch has had a strategy of trying to provide under one roof just about every financial product that individuals and institutions need. It was part of the legacy left by Donald T. Regan, the White House chief of staff, who was Merrill Lynch's former chief executive.

The Soviet Union yesterday freed Nicholas S. Daniloff, the American journalist who had been confined to Moscow for the last month on spying charges. Mr. Daniloff was allowed to leave without standing trial. He flew to Frankfurt, West Germany, for an overnight stay on his way to the United States. His release seemed to remove an obstacle to setting a date for a meeting between President Reagan and Mikhail S. Gorbachev later this year. No Soviet Announcement Reagan Administration officials said that as part of the arrangement on Mr. Daniloff worked out in talks in New York, Gennadi F. Zakharov, a Soviet citizen accused of espionage, would be allowed to plead no contest in court and be sent back to the Soviet Union in exchange for a group of Soviet dissidents.