Power on Trial: Seeking a solution for Singh’s financing

Testimony fills in some blanks

Prosecutors, in their questioning of two attorneys from the politically connected Rivkin Radler law firm on Wednesday and Thursday, managed to elicit testimony that — put in timeline form — shows officials searching for a legal way to help former restaurateur Harendra Singh get bank financing earlier in April 2010 than indicated by previous testimony.

Invoices from the law firm, emails and cellphone records of a call between law firm partner William Savino and Edward Mangano, Nassau’s then-county executive, offered more detail into what happened between April 7 — when Oyster Bay’s outside attorney advised town officials that guaranteeing a loan for Singh was prohibited by New York State’s constitution — and April 28, when Savino, other lawyers, town officials and, according to testimony, Mangano and John Venditto, Oyster Bay’s former supervisor, met at Venditto’s campaign headquarters to discuss the matter.

Singh testified in the federal trial of Venditto, Mangano and Linda Mangano that he asked Edward Mangano and town officials for help after learning of an April 7 email from Jonathan Sinnreich, Oyster Bay’s outside counsel, that the town could not do what Singh said he wanted — to have the town guarantee a line of credit.

“The town can simply not guaranty an all-purpose line-of-credit to support H’s business,” Sinnreich wrote in his email, referring to Singh by his nickname “H.”

On April 13, phone records from Mangano and Savino’s cellphones show that the two had an 11- to 12-minute conversation. Savino, testifying, said he had no independent memory of the conversation.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Catherine M. Mirabile then introduced a sheet of handwritten notes on a piece of yellow legal paper that Savino agreed were notes of his talk with Mangano.

“These are notes of a conversation with the county executive,” he said.

Writing on the sheet included “Singh,” and “Tobay” and “concessions,” along with the name of a Mangano staffer with scheduling responsibilities for the county executive, and two county office telephone numbers.

One day later, William Cornachio, another law firm partner, testified about a number of other invoices introduced into evidence that refer to discussions about the line of credit:

April 14 — “discuss loan transaction with Mr. Savino and Mr. Mei (former deputy town attorney Frederick Mei). . . . ”;

April 16 — “review and discuss research results . . . and consider alternative strategies; review existing license agreement”;

April 19 — “discuss issues . . . related file review.”

And there also are invoices — from Cornachio and Savino — indicating that discussions continued on April 20, April 26 and April 27.

On April 28, both lawyers testified, Rifkin Radler told town officials that backing Singh’s loans would go against the state constitution.

But, Cornachio testified, he left that meeting with the understanding that officials wanted to find a way to help Singh.

And, he testified, he found a legal way to do so.

Singh closed on a $1.5 million line of credit in June.

Fighting words

Things do tend to drag a bit five weeks into any trial, especially as a long, weird winter turned into a weird beginning of spring.

And on Thursday, the end of a week that included testimony from limousine drivers, graphic artists, former Singh restaurant workers and attorneys from a politically connected law firm, humor helped.

George Feis, who once worked as a marketing employee for Singh, testified that he now works in online marketing, digital marketing and graphics design for a martial arts firm.

He testified — as so many former employees have before him — about his time at Singh Hospitality Group.

He said — as so many others have said before him — that he got paid half on the books, and half off the books.

And he said — as another former employee taking the witness stand after him would say — that he did not see Linda Mangano handle any marketing work.

And then John Carman, Linda Mangano’s attorney, stood to begin his cross-examination.

“Before I decide what to ask you,” Carman said, “ . . . do you have a black belt?”

Laughter drowned out Feis’ response.

Name game

The name of Ann Marie Studdert has come up from time to time during the first five weeks of the trial, mostly as a contact in Mangano’s office — which makes sense, because she at one time was Mangano’s secretary and administrative assistant.

Mangano brought Studdert to county government from Rivkin Radler, his former law firm, when he became county executive in 2010. In 2013, she earned $69,732 a year working in Mangano’s office.

In 2014, however, Studdert’s salary jumped to $164,999 when she moved over to become director of intergovernmental affairs and community service representative at Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow.

The hospital is operated by Nassau Health Care Corp., a public-benefit corporation that assumed control of the facility in 1997 after elected officials in deficit-ridden Nassau determined that the county couldn’t afford to run a financially challenged hospital and nursing home anymore.

Even so, should the hospital default, Nassau is responsible for paying off its millions of dollars in bonds.

Earlier this year, Mangano’s successor, Nassau County Executive Laura Curran — who had complained about patronage hiring about NUMC during her campaign — appointed George Tsunis as NuHealth board chairman.

In February, over two days, Tsunis ordered a purge of more than $2.34 million in costs deemed unnecessary for hospital operations.

Among eliminated costs: Studdert’s job title and salary.

Next week

Frederick Mei, a former Oyster Bay deputy town attorney, is slated to testify as the Mangano/Venditto trial enters its sixth week.

In January, documents released by prosecutors showed that Mei, back in September 2015, secretly had pleaded guilty to receiving “bribes and kickbacks” for helping secure town loan guarantees for a town concessionaire.

Singh, a former town concessionaire, testified that he had given cash to Mei, made payments on a BMW lease for Mei and paid for trips, including travel to India and South Korea.

Mei also pleaded guilty to honest services fraud.

During the trial, Mei’s name has been mentioned by numerous witnesses as one of the key players in helping Singh get more than $20 million in loans, backed, directly and indirectly, by the town.

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