A Hamilton County Republican official wants an investigation to determine whether his county party was used to launder money into the campaign of state Treasurer Joseph T. Deters.

Gregory D. Delev, a Cincinnati attorney and member of the Hamilton County Republican Party finance and executive committees, said an inquiry is needed to ensure the party's integrity and to show that Deters did nothing wrong.

"We owe it to Joe Deters to clear his name, if that is what happens,'' Delev said. "Joe, when he was prosecutor, would not stand for this kind of stuff.''

Matthew J. Borges, a campaign spokesman for Deters, said if the Hamilton County GOP decides to investigate contributions to the party, "we would have no problem with it.''

But he added: "No one is suggesting Joe Deters be investigated. With regard to the Hamilton County Republican Party, let me save Mr. Delev some time. Ohio law was followed at all times.''

Delev yesterday sent his plea for an investigation to Hamilton County GOP Chairman Mike Barrett, who did not return calls.

"I would think ultimately it's Mike Barrett's call to make,'' Delev said, noting that with Deters running for re-election this year "this is not going to go away.''

Democrats charged last week that Deters, a former Hamilton County prosecutor, operated a pay-to-play system in which investment brokers doing business with his office were encouraged to contribute to the county party, which Deters headed from December 1999 to March 2001.

The Hamilton County party dumped $302,000 into Deters' campaign fund from January 2001 through January 2002, nearly twice as much as all 88 county Republican parties combined contributed to any of the four other GOP statewide officeholders. Democrats contend that the county party was used to launder money from brokers into Deters' campaign fund.

Delev said he had been unaware the county party was being used to underwrite Deters' short-lived campaign for attorney general last year.

"That much money is what I have a problem with,'' he said. "I guess I'm just sort of shocked it's on the scale that it is.''

Barrett previously had told The Dispatch that he made the decision, at Deters' request, to allocate $302,000 to the Deters campaign, including partially paying salaries for six top consultants.

Delev said the county party should return a $50,000 contribution it received from Frank Gruttadauria, a Cleveland investment broker accused of defrauding clients out of $277 million in the past 15 years.

"If it is money of ill-gotten gain, it should be returned,'' Delev said. "To me, it's just as wrong as it would be if it were an illegal donation.''

Gruttadauria made the donation after meeting with Deters in Cleveland and after his investment banking company received millions of dollars worth of business from Deters' office. Gruttadauria is in the Trumbull County jail.

On Deters' advice, the county party has contacted FBI officials investigating Gruttadauria and is prepared to return the $50,000 contribution to an appropriate account, Borges said.

Deters has denied that he solicited money from Gruttadauria, or that the county party was used to launder money from brokers into his campaign fund.

Five investment brokers from Columbus whose firms do lucrative business with Deters' office also contributed amounts ranging from $15,000 to $35,000 to the Hamilton County Republican Party.

"I've got a problem with it if there was a pay-to-play system,'' said Delev, who suggested the party hire a former FBI agent or judge to investigate.

"It should be someone who is from within the party who is respected and could be trusted to do a fair and honest evaluation of what happened,'' he said. "If that person determines that some sort of wrongdoing had occurred, he could turn it over to proper authorities and not use it for any political gain.''

The Hamilton County party, Delev added, "should put mechanisms in place so as not to allow this to happen again.''