Britain jails man who conned ‘devils’

Agence France-Presse

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A self-styled Italian lawyer whose notorious clients included late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was jailed for 14 years by a British court on Thursday for tricking people into believing he was a bona fide legal professional

AFP FILE PHOTO / JUSTIN TALLIS

LONDON, U.K. – A self-styled Italian lawyer whose notorious clients included late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was jailed for 14 years by a British court on Thursday, March 28, for tricking people into believing he was a bona fide legal professional.

Giovanni di Stefano, 57, was convicted of 25 charges including deception, fraud and money laundering between 2004 and 2012.

Southwark Crown Court in London heard that Di Stefano, dubbed “the devil’s advocate” for his track record of taking on notorious clients, did not actually have any legal qualifications.

Passing sentence, judge Alistair McCreath told Di Stefano: “I recognise that you did not actively seek out those whom you defrauded. They came to you. You did not approach them but there is more than one kind of predator.

“Some predators hunt down their victims, others lie in wait for them.

“Your victims in this case were all desperate people and people who, because of their desperation, were vulnerable.”

The judge also noted that, while this case was about money, “it is also about something different and great — it is about the real distress you caused to so many people”.

“You had no regard for them nor for their anguish,” he said. “Your only concern was to line your own pockets.”

The judge noted that a factor in passing a lengthy sentence was that Di Stefano had not only inflicted financial losses on his clients but also raised “false hope” in people who were often in desperate situations.

On Thursday Di Stefano pleaded guilty to stealing a £150,000 (175,000 euros, $225,000) compensation payout from an insurance company that should have gone to a man who had lost an arm in a car crash.

This was a “wicked” crime and one which “stands in a league of its own”, the judge said.

As he stepped out of the dock to be taken to prison, Di Stefano told the judge: “I am obliged, my Lord.”

Born in Italy, Di Stefano moved to Britain in the 1970s and, despite a conspiracy conviction in 1985, pursued his ambition to teach himself law without any formal training.

He told his trial that he eventually considered himself “learned” in the law and capable of providing legal services, and began advising clients.

As well as working with the legal teams of Saddam Hussein and late Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic, Di Stefano made a name for himself by taking on apparently “unwinnable” cases and boasted of being asked to defend infamous British killers such as Jeremy Bamber and Harold Shipman. – Rappler.com

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