In the fall of 2002,prosecutors say Nissim Elmann, who claimed to have clout with a matrimonial judge, gave his sales pitch to a panicked mother of three.

Mr. Elmann, a Brooklyn electronics dealer who prosecutors accuse of attempting to sell influence in matrimonial cases, said he could “arrange” Frieda Hanimov’s child custody case then pending before state Supreme Court Justice Gerald Garson. Otherwise, he warned, the judge “will destroy you.”

Mr. Elmann, investigators and lawyers say, lied about many things, including about knowing Judge Garson.

On that October day, Mr. Elmann met his match in Ms. Hanimov.

Ms. Hanimov, who testified yesterday in Brooklyn at the bribery trial of Mr. Garson’s former court clerk and court officer, called prosecutors after Mr. Elmann allegedly told her the judge was “in his pocket” and that her husband had paid bribes to fix their case.

“I was shocked…I was going nuts,” Ms. Hanimov told jurors. She agreed to wear a wire.The subsequent recordings she made sparked a sprawling investigation into judicial corruption in Brooklyn and led to the indictment of, among others, Judge Garson, who is awaiting trial on a charge of bribe receiving.

Ms. Hanimov had first contacted Mr. Elmann for help after she was arrested for hitting her son and her ex-husband sued for custody of their three children.

The tapes suggest a duel between a vague but always-enticing Mr. Elmann and a dogged Ms. Hanimov.

On the tapes, Mr. Elmann boasts of paying $1 million for special access to Mr. Garson and tells her that the judge “wants to take your children.”

“He will do everything for me. The problem here is how much” you can sacrifice, Mr. Elmann says.

Mr. Elmann asks for thousands of dollars, guaranteeing success. But she wanted proof the plan would work. Mr. Elmann replied, “It’s a matter of faith.”

“He said it’s not just about the judge,” she testified. “It’s about a group of people.”

Prosecutors argue that among those involved in a wider conspiracy were the two men currently on trial – court clerk Paul Sarnell and court officer Louis Salerno, who are accused of taking bribes to steer cases to the judge.

But defense lawyers yesterday accused prosecutors of presenting evidence unrelated to the case and played a tape in which an investigator allegedly discusses the Brooklyn district attorney’s office’s political motives in bringing the Garson case.

“Media, media,” the investigator says. “We work for a very political organization, you know. What are you going to do?”