Business Notes WALL STREET

For Drexel Burnham Lambert and its junk-bond wizard, Michael Milken, the pretense is over and the divorce begins. In court papers filed last week, it was disclosed that Drexel has agreed to fire Milken and withhold his 1988 bonus, estimated at $200 million. Since the investment firm has already agreed to settle criminal-fraud charges against it for a $650 million penalty, denying Milken his money effectively reduces the fine by more than 30%. Milken's attorney, Martin Flumenbaum, castigated the settlement as a "violation of due process, a punishment without trial." Separate criminal charges against Milken for securities fraud are expected to be filed soon.