NY Lawyers & Dominatrix Accused of Running $50M Mortgage Fraud Scheme
In the news last month when he complained that authorities had searched his law office, a Long Island criminal, matrimonial and real estate attorney now has additional trouble on his agenda.
Private practitioner George Guldi, 57, is accused of running, along with a dominatrix, her husband and two more New York lawyers, a $50 million mortgage scam that allegedly used straw buyers recruited from a fetish club to help dupe lenders into granting excessive mortgages, reports Newsday. When the mortgages weren’t paid, the homes reportedly went into foreclosure.
Guldi is particularly well-known because he is a former Suffolk County legislator.
He has now been criminally charged in what Suffolk District Attorney Thomas Spota describes as a “seven-year-long mortgage fraud spree” operated between 2002 and 2009 concerning dozens of upscale homes in the Hamptons, according to the newspaper and the Associated Press.
A lawyer representing Guldi, who has pleaded not guilty to first-degree grand larceny and other charges in Southampton Village Justice Court, declined Newsday’s request for comment. The newspaper says Guldi is accused of “act[ing] as the lawyer in dozens of fraudulent transactions that made him millions.”
Prosecutors say another New York lawyer, 49-year-old Ethan Ellner, created fake titles that falsely claimed homes involved in the scam were free and clear of mortgages and other debt, Newsday reports. Thus, the straw buyers allegedly recruited with payments of $5,000 to $10,000 to overstate their incomes and pose as legitimate purchasers of expensive East End homes in the Town of Southampton were able to persuade banks to loan more on the homes than they were worth, according to the government.
Attorney Raymond Perini, who represents Ellner,says his client pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree grand larceny, scheme to defraud and other charges, and declined further comment to Newsday.
Defendant Carrie Coakley, 38, who was featured in the 1998 documentary Whipped, and her husband, Donald MacPherson, 65, allegedly recruited straw buyers from among the clientele of their sexual fetish fantasy business, Arena Studios. They live in Manhattan, N.Y.
MacPherson is the publisher of the SoHo Journal, reports the East Hampton Star, in an article that provides additional background information about Guldi.
Attorney Steven Wilutis of Miller Place, who represents Coakley and MacPherson, says they are innocent of any crime and declined further comment, Newsday writes. MacPherson pleaded not guilty to first-degree grand larceny and other charges, and Coakley pleaded not guilty to one count of first-degree scheme to defraud.
Attorney Dustin Dente, 37, is accused of participating in some real estate closings concerning properties at issue in the alleged scheme. He has pleaded not guilty to first-degree grand larceny. His lawyer also declined the newspaper’s request for comment.
Earlier coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Prosecutors Seized All Files in My Law Office, NY Attorney Says”
ABAJournal.com: “Bank Sues Embattled N.Y. Lawyer Alleging $1.8M Mortgage Fraud”
