Ties To Slavery Could Cost Firm City Contract

The chairman of the City Council’s black caucus said Friday he will ask the council to void a housing financing deal with a unit of Wachovia Corp., charging that the company lied earlier this year when it denied any historical ties to slavery.

“I think they ought to be punished, and I think we ought to send a message so that anybody else who comes here has got to tell the truth,” said Ald. Ed Smith (28th). “It is a message to everybody else; if you lie, you are out.”

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An apology by Wachovia’s chairman on Wednesday did little to satisfy unhappy aldermen.

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