Riverhead - Former Suffolk County Legislator George Guldi was among four defendants arraigned on Tuesday, Aug. 11 on grand larceny, forgery, conspiracy and fraud charges in a 130-count indictment alleging approximately $82 million in mortgage fraud involving 60 houses, more than 50 of them located in the Town of Southampton.

Former Suffolk County Legislator George Guldi.

Suffolk District Attorney Thomas Spota said Guldi and 16 others named in the indictment participated in the schemes defrauding banks and mortgage companies through the use of straw purchasers filing false loan applications and "mortgage stacking" that relied on the creation and use of bogus title reports to conceal outstanding mortgages, thereby duping lenders into believing the homes were unencumbered by existing liens.

"These defendants, including attorneys, title closers and straw purchasers, filed mortgage applications that were filled with fraud - fake employer information, phantom bank balances, forged notary signatures, and falsified powers of attorney - persuading lenders, including JP Morgan Chase, Washington Mutual and Bank of America, into loaning tens of millions of dollars in mortgages that, as we stand here today, are all in default," Spota said.

Guldi, 56, of Westhampton Beach, and codefendants Donald C. MacPherson and Carrie Coakley of Manhattan and attorney Dustin J. Dente of Roslyn, pled not guilty at their arraignments in Riverhead's Suffolk County Court. The indictment charges Guldi, who served 12 years as a Suffolk lawmaker, with 110 crimes, including 23 counts of first degree grand larceny, 11 counts of second degree grand larceny, 26 counts of criminal possession of a forged instrument in the second degree, forgery, offering false instrument for filing in the first and second degrees, scheme to defraud in the first degree, conspiracy, and money laundering. Guldi pleaded not guilty and posted $500,000 bond.

MacPherson, 65, pleaded not guilty to 90 counts in the indictment, including 23 counts of first degree grand larceny, 13 counts of second degree grand larceny, 21 counts of first degree offering a false instrument for filing and multiple counts of conspiracy, criminal possession of a forged instrument, scheme to defraud and insurance fraud. He was incarcerated in lieu of $250,000 cash bail or $500,000 bond.

The indictment charges MacPherson's wife, Carrie Coakley, 39, with first degree scheme to defraud and first degree grand larceny, the latter charge relating to a fraudulent mortgage in January of 2005 for a home on Bridies Path in Southampton. Coakley's 65-year-old mother, Dortha F. Coakley, of Riverhead, is charged in the indictment with second degree grand larceny for allegedly acting as a straw buyer in the purchase of a home in October 2008 on Broome Street in West Babylon.

Dente, 37, is charged with four counts of first degree grand larceny, one count of second degree grand larceny, two counts of conspiracy, one count of money laundering and one charge of first degree scheme to defraud. Dente, title closer Melissa Lanzilotta-Smith, 33, of Babylon, and 35-year-old Dix Hills attorney Brandon Lisi face first degree grand larceny charges for their roles in fraudulently obtaining two mortgages in 2008 for a restaurant property on Main Street in Cold Spring Harbor. Dente, Lanzilotta-Smith, Lisi, and alleged straw buyer Nadeem Noor-Mohammed, 46, of Northport, are charged in the indictment with second degree grand larceny for the theft of more than $50,000 in obtaining a fraudulent mortgage from JP Morgan Chase in May of 2007 for a property in on Stuyvesant Street in Huntington.

Ethan E. Ellner, of Plainview, an attorney and operator of Suburban Abstract, a title company in Stony Brook, allegedly defrauded lending institutions of millions of dollars by using forged documents, false employment and income information on applications, false powers of attorney, and other fraud. Ellner, 49, pleaded not guilty at his arraignment on Wednesday, Aug. 5 to 21 counts of first degree grand larceny, 11 counts of second degree grand larceny, as well as multiple charges of conspiracy, offering a false instrument for filing and money laundering.

District Attorney Spota said the alleged frauds employed the use of straw purchasers, who received a fee of between $5,000 and $10,000 dollars, to victimize lenders by filing false loan applications that claimed the homebuyers were employed by various corporations owned or controlled by the scheme's participants.

"Some of the proceeds went into the principal's pockets and some of the money would be used to service the mortgages on several properties," Spota explained. "It was not difficult to keep their mortgage Ponzi scheme afloat because of the exponential growth in the early part of this decade of the East End real estate market. The defendants were able to obtain new mortgages year after year for some of these properties."

Alleged straw buyers who pleaded not guilty to first degree scheme to defraud include Renee Garzon, 21, of New York City and 46-year-old Lisa Resurreccion of Brooklyn, employees of Arena Studios, also known as "The Dungeon," on Broome Street in Manhattan; John E. Sheehan, 50, of Manhattan, employed as Coakley's personal assistant at "The Dungeon;" and Danielle and Charles Ondrek of Briarwood, NY. Charles Ondrek, 32, is the owner of Blazing Bull Productions.