A self-styled lawyer has been sentenced to 14 years in prison for a series of frauds on "desperate and vulnerable victims" whom he tricked into thinking he was a bona fide legal professional.
Giovanni di Stefano, 57, who became known as the Devil's Advocate for taking on "unwinnable" cases, was convicted on 25 charges including deception, fraud and money laundering between 2001 and 2011 at London's Southwark Crown Court.
The court had earlier learned how he 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.
Judge Alistair McCreath, the Recorder of Westminster, noted there were many offences over significant periods of time.
The fact that the victims, who included a disabled man seeking damages for the loss of an arm, were all "desperate and vulnerable" and faced losses which were not just financial but also included the "raising and dashing of false hope" were aggravating factors, the judge said.
"I recognise that you did not actively seek out those whom you defrauded," Judge McCreath told di Stefano. "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 the 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. Your only concern was to line your own pockets."
After the sentencing, di Stefano thanked the judge in a loud voice saying: "I am obliged, my Lord" as he stepped out of the dock.
During the trial, the court about his links to former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe, al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden and ex-Serb president Slobodan Milosevic.
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