A BOGUS Italian lawyer and former Dundee Football Club director is facing a possible jail term after being found guilty of tricking people into thinking he was a trained legal representative.
Giovanni di Stefano, who earned his nickname the Devil's Advocate for taking on so-called unwinnable cases, was convicted on 25 charges including deception, fraud and money laundering between 2001 and 2011.
He spent last night in custody and will be sentenced this morning at Southwark Crown Court.
The 57-year-old conned clients out of millions of pounds by setting himself up as a lawyer when he had no legal qualifications and was not registered to work as a lawyer in Italy or the UK. He used the Italian word "avvocato" on business cards, letterheads and identification documents to give clients – and the judiciary – the impression he was an advocate.
Di Stefano – who told of his links to Robert Mugabe, Osama bin Laden, Saddam Hussein and his "friendship" with the daughter of Slobodan Milosevic – did not react as the 25 guilty verdicts were delivered. The court was shown a BBC documentary from 2004 in which he described Saddam as a "nice guy" and boasted of being asked to defend killers such as Jeremy Bamber, Harold Shipman, Kenneth Noye and Linda Calvey.
He was born in a small town in central Italy, but moved to the UK as a boy and went to school in Northamptonshire.
Di Stefano, of Canterbury, was found guilty of nine counts of obtaining a money transfer by deception, eight counts of fraud, three of acquiring criminal property, two offences of using a false instrument, one count of attempting to obtain a money transfer by deception, one count of obtaining property by deception and one count of using criminal property.
David Aaronberg, QC, prosecuting, told the jury di Stefano developed "something of a reputation" among convicted criminals, lawyers, the media and the wider community.
He said: "It was this that has gained him the fame, or the notoriety, that he enjoys.
"He was a man who was willing to provide legal services to clients whose cases others considered unwinnable or too difficult to defend.
"He was willing to argue for unpopular causes."
Hilary Ryan, from the Crown Prosecution Service's Organised Crime Division, said: "For many years, Giovanni di Stefano described himself to potential clients as a lawyer and usually as an Italian avvocato. He was nothing of the sort.
"When the law caught up with him, he falsely claimed to have obtained various formal, legal qualifications. He then went on to claim that, having taught himself the law, he was entitled to describe himself as a lawyer. This was fraud by anyone's standards and a charade that he kept up for over eight years in order to line his own pockets.
"People rightly expect the utmost integrity from those in the legal profession. Giovanni di Stefano routinely tricked his clients and abused their trust. Those who seek to behave in such a cynical way should take note of this conviction."
Judge Alistair McCreath remanded di Stefano in custody pending his sentence.
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