Witness talks of 'bribe' in Guldi trial

A key witness in the insurance fraud trial of former Suffolk County Legis. George Guldi told prosecutors that he was asked for a "bribe" by an official in order to receive county work, according to court documents.

The official is not named in the court papers obtained by Newsday, which are heavily redacted, with other identifying details blacked out. The witness in the case is identified in the papers as Ethan Ellner, who partly owned a title company that received county work and who is a prosecution witness against Guldi.

"I was surprised by [the name is redacted] request for money and I was surprised by the location [his office]. I was shocked by [the name is redacted] asking for a bribe," Ellner told the Suffolk district attorney's office in an interview last June, according to court papers.

Both Ellner and Guldi were charged with involvement in an $82-million mortgage scam. Ellner pleaded guilty later to grand larceny and other charges. Guldi also faces charges in a fire-insurance fraud, and that trial opened Tuesday in Riverhead before County Court Judge James F.X. Doyle. The district attorney's office had filed a motion to keep the name of the official out of the court proceedings when Ellner testifies. Doyle denied that request, which means the name may come out as the case unfolds.

Newsday has reported that a company partly owned by Ellner, Suburban Abstract, of Stony Brook, received more than $85,000 in Suffolk County work from 2005 through 2009.

Another section of the court papers states: "Ethan E. told Guldi that he had to pay kickbacks to [the name is redacted] for [the word is redacted] business."

Ellner is a longtime friend of Suffolk Executive Steve Levy, who said last April that he recommended Ellner get title work from the county to help him get back on his feet after a tax evasion conviction.

Levy did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday. His spokesman, Dan Aug, issued a statement in which he referred to Guldi's opening statement in court in which Guldi criticized Ellner's treatment of his own mother. "How can anyone believe anything coming out of the mouths of these defendants when even Mr. Guldi, in his opening statement, stated that Mr. Ellner is so desperate that he is willing to throw his own mother under the bus to soften his sentence?"

By law, prosecutors must turn over witness statement to the defense. The statements were turned over Tuesday to Guldi, who is defending himself. Guldi and his co-counsel, Christopher Brocato, objected to the redactions. Doyle said he would issue a ruling on the matter Wednesday.

Earlier this month, Guldi served Levy with a subpoena to testify at his trial. Aug has said Levy would move to quash the subpoena.

According to the court papers, Ellner stated that around 2004 or 2005 he asked someone - the name is blacked out - whether work was available from Suffolk County. The unnamed person "wanted [the word is redacted] of profit to go to 'Friends of [the name is redacted']"

The papers state that Ellner would make the "kickback paid via 'Lee Holding Corp.' " The Lee Holding checking account was at a North Fork Bank branch in Stony Brook.

State campaign records show that a Lee Holding Corp., with a Stony Brook post office box, contributed $8,900 to Friends of Steve Levy from May 21, 2006, through June 25, 2007. It did not contribute to any other candidates, these records show. It is the only company of that name in state campaign filings from 2005 through 2009.

Earlier this month, Levy said, "I request donations from thousands of residents and businesses on a yearly basis, but have never, ever demanded one."

State business records list Ellner's mother, Gladys Ellner, as the chairwoman or chief executive of Lee Holding Co. According to the court records in the Guldi case: "Mother rec'd letter saying contribution exceeded legal limit for donation (2005)."

The papers also state that Ellner reached out to the unnamed person "for a favor" after his arrest, but did not get a call back. Later, an attorney called him to say that ".[name redacted] feels because of my legal problem [word redacted] better not to have contact."

Earlier this month, court papers in the case revealed that Guldi had told prosecutors in June that Ellner told him he had made campaign contributions or cash payments to a "high elected official" in exchange for county work. Assistant District Attorney Thalia Stavrides filed a motion seeking to bar Guldi from asking Ellner the name of that official because any such disclosure could jeopardize a possible investigation. The motion did not make clear whether an investigation was actually under way. Guldi, of Westhampton Beach, declined to comment yesterday. Ellner's attorney, Raymond Perini of Hauppauge, has also declined to comment.