Sources: Town of Hempstead subpoenaed over former contractor Double Eagle Golf

The U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York has issued a subpoena to the Town of Hempstead for records related to former town contractor Double Eagle Golf, according to three people familiar with the matter.

The October 2019 subpoena sought correspondence and other documents related to the 20 years during which the company ran a Hempstead-owned golf course in Lido Beach, two of the people said.

Double Eagle has been the subject of prolonged political controversy in Hempstead. The town and ex-contractor have been in litigation since 2017 over disputed capital improvement costs. The two sides reached a tentative settlement in April. But Hempstead's former supervisor, Democrat Laura Gillen, voiced objections to the settlement in October, citing $922,800 in payments Double Eagle had made to The McCormick Group for work related to the course. The company is controlled by Joseph Cairo, now chairman of the Nassau County Republican Committee.

The Town Board then voted 6-0 against the proposed $85,000 settlement, and three state judges in Nassau County recused themselves from the litigation without explanation.

John Marzulli, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office, declined to comment. Hempstead spokesman Greg Blower said, "The town does not confirm or deny the existence of a subpoena.” Joshua Hecht, an attorney for Double Eagle, did not respond to a request for comment.

Double Eagle ran the Lido Beach Golf Course from 1997 until 2017, when the town retook control of the facility. Double Eagle sued the town in May 2017, arguing the town owed it $776,400 for capital improvements it made. The town countersued, arguing the company was responsible for the expenses and had let the course fall into disrepair.

In her affidavit, Gillen drew parallels between Double Eagle and Dover Gourmet, another Hempstead contractor that has faced scrutiny from the U.S. attorney. Dover, a Freeport company, runs Malibu Beach Park and Sands catering hall, two Hempstead properties in Lido Beach. Like Double Eagle, it has argued the town owes it for capital improvement costs, is in litigation with Hempstead and has paid Cairo for work related to a town property. The U.S. attorney subpoenaed Hempstead in August for records on Dover.

"Like the Malibu vendor situation, it seems that the Nassau County Republican Chairman is receiving payouts from vendors for whom he helped secure contracts," Gillen said in the affidavit in the Double Eagle case.

Cairo, a former Hempstead councilman, has said he consulted Double Eagle on business matters and that “nothing unethical was done.”

The litigation between Double Eagle and Hempstead was transferred to a Westchester County judge late last year after the three Nassau judges recused themselves from the case in rapid succession without explanation. Judges are not required to provide a reason when recusing themselves, a court spokesman said.

Gillen lost reelection in November to Republican Don Clavin, who took office in January.