Guldi Convicted Of Defrauding Lender Out Of $250K+ From Jail: Feds

© Patch file photo courtesy Suffolk County DA's Office Former Suffolk County Legislator George Guldi reportedly schemed to steal more than $250K while in prison for insurance-related offenses, feds say.

WESTHAMPTON BEACH, NY — George Guldi, the former Suffolk County legislator and disbarred attorney who was sentenced to prison in 2011 on charges of grand larceny and insurance fraud, has once again been convicted of committing fraud — from his jail cell, federal officials said Thursday.

Guldi, 69, of Ludlow, VT — Guldi formerly lived in Westhampton Beach — as well as his former girlfriend Victoria Davidson, 57, of Lakeland, CT were convicted for their roles in defrauding Ditech Finanial LLC, a mortgage lender, out of more than $250K, Damian Williams, United States Attorney for the southern district of New York, said.

A jury convicted Guldi and Davidson on all counts following a two-week trial before U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein, federal officials said.

According to the complaint, indictment, court filings, as well as evidence presented during the trial and public information, in Feb. 2017, Ditech Financial LLC, a mortgage lender, received a payment of about $250,000 from JPMorgan Chase in connection with the settlement of a civil lawsuit between several financial institutions.

Ditech mistakenly treated the funds as a payment from Guldi toward his own mortgage, and then sent a letter to Guldi in March, 2017 stating that it would not credit the payment because he owed more than the payment, officials said.

Guldi, who was in state prison at the time for insurance-related offenses and knew that he had not actually sent any money to Ditech, then got his former girlfriend, Davidson to contact Ditech and try to “break” the funds “loose,” as he put it in a recorded call from prison, Williams said.

Over the next weeks, Davidson reportedly called Ditech at least 19 times and, during those calls, told multiple lies in an attempt to obtain the funds — including falsely stating that she was an attorney and an officer of Guldi's company and that Guldi had purportedly sent the funds to Ditech “accidentally” and wanted them returned, feds said.

In April, 2017, after weeks of Davidson's "misrepresentations", Ditech wired the funds to Davidson's personal bank account, prosecutors said.

Within two weeks, Davidson had "drained the bulk of the funds out of her account", paying various expenses for both herself and Guldi and purchasing multiple cashier’s checks, feds said.

"Within months, the money was gone," Williams said.

Guldi and Davidson were each convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud, one count of wire fraud, and one count of bank fraud, federal officials said. The conspiracy and bank fraud counts carry a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison, and the wire fraud count carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, feds added.

Guldi is scheduled to be sentenced on May 30 and Davidson is scheduled to be sentenced on May 31.

“George Guldi, while in prison, concocted and conducted a scheme along with his co-conspirator, Victoria Davidson, to brazenly steal more than $250,000 through blatant lies. Today, a jury held them accountable for their scheme, and they will both face justice for their shameless misconduct," Williams said.

Attorneys for Guldi and Davidson could not immediately be reached for comment.

Guldi’s 2011 trial was marked by high drama as the former lawmaker fought against charges that he forged the endorsement of Countrywide Home Loans on an $863,000 insurance check paid out by AIG after his Westhampton Beach home was ravaged by fire, and that he placed the proceeds into his own bank account.

In 2017, Guldi's conviction on grand larceny and insurance fraud charges was overturned by an appellate court; he was then arraigned again in Riverhead, then-Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota said.

The appellate court found the judge erred by not dismissing a prospective juror who worked for AIG, the DA said.

Convicted by a jury of second degree grand larceny and third degree insurance fraud, the former county lawmaker was initially sentenced in 2011 to serve three to nine years imprisonment on the grand larceny conviction and one to three years imprisonment on the insurance fraud charge to be served consecutively, the DA said.

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