More than six months after New Canaan mother Jennifer Dulos disappeared, her estranged husband took the witness stand Tuesday in a civil matter.

Gloria Farber, mother of Jennifer Dulos, is suing Fotis Dulos for more than $2.5 million. Farber says the money was loaned to Fotis Dulos for his business by her late husband, Hilliard Farber.

Fotis Dulos testified in Hartford Superior Court that the money was a gift.

“He and I had a very, very good relationship. He was like a second father to me,” he testified.

The lawsuit was filed 18 months before Fotis Dulos’ wife disappeared.

In court, Fotis Dulos said Hilliard Farber encouraged him to start his own home building company, the Fore Group, and even loaned him money to help out. But he also testified that the relationship changed in 2010 after his and his wife’s fifth child was born.

“He expressed his support and he said to me that, in the future, any of these advances are not going to be considered loans. I don't want any interest,” Fotis Dulos testified.

Gloria Farber’s attorney Richard Weinstein contends that they were loans. Weinstein put accountant Joseph Urbanski on the stand who testified he prepared the tax returns for the Fore Group for a decade.

Urbanski said each year, he listed a loan amount owed to Hilliard Farber.

Then, in 2017 after Hilliard Farber died, Fotis Dulos asked Urbanski to convert the loan amount to equity, which Urbanski refused to do.

Jennifer Dulos’ disappearance did not come up in testimony, but Fotis Dulos’ sister, who was in the U.S. from Greece, denied he had anything to do with what happened to her.

“He's the nicest person I know. He's a very, very good person,” she said.

Testimony will continue Wednesday where Weinstein is expected to cross-examine Fotis Dulos.

Fotis Dulos has been charged with evidence tampering and hindering prosecution in connection to disappearance of his estranged wife. Security cameras captured Fotis Dulos and his girlfriend, Michelle Troconis, throwing out what appeared to be blood-stained evidence in 30 trash cans in Hartford.