Guldi trial witness: I was contacted by DA

A witness in the insurance fraud trial of former Suffolk County legislator George Guldi testified Thursday that he was contacted by the Suffolk district attorney's office last summer in connection with an inquiry on campaign contributions.

The testimony by the witness, Ethan Ellner, is the first time it has been disclosed that the district attorney's office undertook an inquiry into campaign contributions.

Ellner, a former principal of Suburban Abstract, a Stony Brook firm that did title work for Suffolk County, is a prosecution witness. He was allowed to plead guilty to a grand larceny charge in a mortgage fraud case in exchange for testifying against Guldi.

Under questioning from Assistant District Attorney Thalia Stavrides, Ellner said that he made the campaign contributions because "I thought it was necessary in order to get the work" with the county. He said he was asked to make the contributions. But he did not say who asked him and Stavrides did not ask Ellner who in government solicited the contributions.

County Court Judge James F.X. Doyle, who is presiding over the trial in Riverhead, told lawyers in a sidebar conference Thursday that they could not ask Ellner the name of the official. He said the identity of the official was "neither material nor necessary" to the insurance fraud and grand larceny case against Guldi.

Newsday has reported that County Executive Steve Levy assisted Ellner in getting county title work because he said he wanted to help Ellner get a second chance after a tax evasion conviction. Records show the county paid Suburban Abstract about $85,000 for title work.

Levy's spokesman Dan Aug did not return calls Thursday seeking comment on Ellner's testimony.

Guldi is charged with insurance fraud in connection with a fire that destroyed his Westhampton Beach home in 2008. He is also charged in connection with an $82-million mortgage fraud case.

Ellner testified Thursday that he first cooperated with the district attorney's office on the mortgage fraud case out of concern that his mother, who worked for Suburban Abstract, could somehow be arrested or indicted. The testimony is the first indication that Ellner had also cooperated in a separate campaign contribution inquiry.

Christopher Brocato, Guldi's co-counsel, said after testimony Thursday that Guldi also has provided information to the district attorney's office on campaign contribution matters. He said Guldi has "answered [prosecutors'] questions on pay to play" allegations, and offered to be a government witness in the inquiry, but "they [prosecutors] were not interested in his cooperation."

Robert Clifford, a spokesman for the Suffolk DA's office, declined to discuss Guldi, Ellner's testimony or any aspect of the case.

Doyle earlier ordered notes of the district attorney's interviews with Ellner to be turned over to Guldi only in redacted form, leaving out the name of the official who Ellner said solicited campaign donations.

In his testimony, Ellner said Guldi told him about his plans to forge the endorsement on an insurance check.

"He said he was going to forge Countrywide's endorsement and take it to the city to deposit it," Ellner testified. "I said, 'Good luck with that, George.' "

Outside court, Brocato said Ellner's testimony is not credible. "It's completely illogical that he [Guldi] would turn around and say, 'I'm going to commit this felony. I just wanted you to know about it," Brocato said.

With Carl MacGowan

and Sandra Peddie