U.S. Indicts LaRouche for Stalling Probe

WASHINGTON — A grand jury indicted extreme right-wing politician Lyndon LaRouche for conspiring to obstruct an investigation into alleged fraudulent fund-raising practices of his 1984 presidential campaign, the Justice Department said today.

The indictment, returned by a federal grand jury in Boston on Tuesday and unsealed today, was the first to name LaRouche himself as a defendant.

Thirteen of the three-time presidential candidate’s followers and five groups he controlled are under indictment for allegedly conspiring to obstruct justice, commit credit card fraud and obtain fraudulent loans.

Another grand jury, in Alexandria, Va., is continuing a tax investigation of LaRouche, who claims he has no income and acknowledged he has not filed federal income tax returns in more than 10 years.

Fund-Raising Probe

Today’s indictment charged LaRouche and various other defendants with attempting to block and stall the three-year grand jury investigation into LaRouche’s fund-raising activities.

Among other things, the defendants were charged with burning and shredding financial records which had been subpoenaed by the grand jury, refusing to produce witnesses who had been subpoenaed and making false statements to federal agents.

The indictment also alleged that the defendants moved various LaRouche followers from the Boston area so they could not be questioned about unauthorized credit card charges.

LaRouche was charged with furthering the obstruction of justice by reassigning the Boston area fund raisers after their conduct came under investigation.

He also ordered his subordinates to stall the grand jury investigation and plotted to fix the grand jury inquiry, according to the indictment.

Eccentric Theories

LaRouche, 64, espouses eccentric and sometimes incoherent theories of world conspiracies that allege prominent Americans and world leaders are involved in drug-dealing and other crimes.

His public pronouncements have included accusations that Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II is involved in global drug trade and that former Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger and former Vice President Walter F. Mondale are “Soviet agents of influence.”

LaRouche has won just a handful of votes in each of his three races for the presidency but has declared that he will run again in 1988.

The Justice Department said LaRouche’s attorney informed government prosecutors that LaRouche is in West Germany but that he will surrender to U.S. authorities next week.