Giovanni di Stefano

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Giovanni di Stefano (b. 1955) is an Italian-born self-described lawyer working in the United Kingdom. Working as an avvocato (lawyer in Italian) he has made a reputation advising the defence in high-profile cases in British and international courts.

Born in Campobasso, in southern Italy, he moved to Irchester in Northamptonshire in 1961, aged six. He began amassing what he claims eventually constituted his £450m fortune by importing videotapes from Hong Kong.

Contents

[edit] Client list

Among the cases he has worked on, or publicly commented upon, are:

[edit] Disagreement over qualifications

There is some uncertainty concerning the validity of his legal qualifications, which, he claims, were granted by an Italian university. The Law Society of England and Wales released a statement saying: "He's not a solicitor and he's not a barrister. As far as we're concerned he has no legal qualifications whatsoever".

As an unrecognised advocate, he does not have rights of audience, and cannot appear in court as an advocate with rights of audience if not authorised by either Law Society or Bar council. In September 2002, however, the High Court of Justice ruled recognising the rights of di Stefano as an avvocato and the right to visit his client. The Governor of Belmarsh Prison was refused leave to appeal and costs awarded in favour of di Stefano. The High Court of Justice found the following:

"103. MR JUSTICE JACKSON: At the moment no concrete evidence against Mr di Stefano has been placed before me. He is entitled as an Italian avvocato to the same courteous treatment before the courts and the authorities of this country that I would expect any English solicitor or counsel to receive before the courts or the authorities in Italy."

In cases where defendants are representing themselves, he may be able to persuade a court to let him speak as a McKenzie Friend; however, the Court of Appeal has said that courts should be cautious in extending rights of audience to the non-qualified.

In November 2004 the High Court in London upheld a decision by a prison governor to refuse di Stefano permission to visit Palmer in jail because of doubts about the Italian's status as an avvocato. He was apparently unable to provide either the governor or the court with documentary evidence to support his assertion that he is a qualified advocate. He claimed he was an Italian avvocato but was unable to provide evidence of same to the Court. The Prison Service revealed that he had 19 prior convictions - which he denied, claiming that they were racked up by someone else - but was not able to explain why the record showed his exact date and place of birth. He declined to provide fingerprint evidence to prove his denial. Following an appeal and a consent agreement Di Stefano visits and attends clients regularly in jail. Each party paid their own costs for the appeal.

[edit] Career

Di Stefano, using the forename John, was convicted of fraud-related offences in 1975 and again in 1976, when he received a 6 month custodial prison sentence.

On March 18, 1986, following a seventy-eight day trial at the Old Bailey in London, di Stefano (using the name "John") was convicted of fraud and sentenced to five years in prison. The amount of money was reported at the time to have been £25m. In the same case, di Stefano was also convicted of acquiring huge numbers of video tapes by deception. The allegations that di Stefano was ultimately convicted of were two of fraudulent trading and conspiracy to defraud together with lawyers Kolker Brothers from the United States and Sandrelli from Italy and the amount was £80,000.

Di Stefano claims that these convictions were overturned at appeal. However records of the case from the Central Criminal Court, published in The Scotsman, show that he was convicted. Later, on January 27, 1987, di Stefano’s appeal against his conviction was dismissed. Di Stefano was also disqualified from being a company director and banned from "the promotion, formation or management" of a company for a period of ten years.

After his release from Ford Open Prison, in 1988, di Stefano set about rebuilding his personal finances. Di Stefano found work as a general administrative assistant with a travel agent with substantial property interests, and then as a legal clerk at a London firm of solicitors. In 1990, his employer, Barry Shaw, was struck off by the Law Society for failing to supervise his finances adequately and for breaches of the solicitors' accounts rules, after over £100,000 was withdrawn without authorisation from client accounts. A ruling by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal in 1990 stated that no UK solicitor could employ di Stefano in any capacity without permission from the Law Society. The tribunal happened in di Stefano's absence after he left for the USA, and he was not represented. According to di Stefano, both The Guardian and The Scotsman newspapers are subject to criminal proceedings currently in course in Italy (2005). In 1990, di Stefano attempted to enter New Zealand, claiming to have $100m to invest in property there. The New Zealand authorities refused him entry as a "prohibited immigrant", because they did not believe his assertion that he wasn’t John di Stefano, convicted criminal. The investment di Stefano always said was never his own and was for and on behalf of a company controlled by Giancarlo Paretti called Interpart Mergers and Acquisitions Inc. Owing to di Stefano having been arrested, and the problems surrounding MGM which di Stefano and Paretti had acquired from Kirk Kerkorian using money obtained from French Bank Credit Lyonnais, the New Zealand Secretary of State refused di Stefano permission to enter on the sixth occasion. Di Stefano, notwithstanding being married to a New Zealand citizen at that time allowing him permission to reside in New Zealand, left Auckland voluntarily and has returned since on four occasions.

Di Stefano was deported from the United States in 1992 by the U.S. Government. Federal Court documents show that when he appealed against the deportation decision in 1995, the court was told that he was found guilty in England "of offences involving fraudulent trading". The case notes add that "at his deportation hearing, di Stefano admitted being deportable as an alien who was inadmissible at the time of his entry because he was convicted of a crime of moral turpitude". Di Stefano had been in the U.S. on an attempt to buy the film studio MGM. After the deal collapsed MGM later won damages from di Stefano. Court documents however, show that di Stefano was paid a large sum by a French bank for restitution of property that was legally and correctly acquired by him in 1989. Di Stefano has stated that he voluntarily left the United States on August 28, 1992 whilst awaiting the appeal proceedings. The United States makes a non-U.S. citizen subject to visa refusal if at any time one has been convicted of or has basically admitted or pleaded guilty (or nolo) to any offence that is a "crime of moral turpitude" for which a sentence of one year or more may be imposed. It makes no distinction if one has received a custodial sentence or acquitted, as long as the alien in question has admitted guilt of the crime charged or its essential elements. The Immigration and Naturalization Act has been more strictly interpreted even with the refusal (2005) of Mark Thatcher of a visa for entry. Di Stefano has returned to the United States on a number of occasions between 1995 and February 2006 being the last visit. There are no more preclusions from Di Stefano entering the US.

In 1992, di Stefano was involved with a hotel company known as Sandhurst Assets solely as company secretary. Di Stefano was charged with fraud in relation to this company, which was wound up by Whitbread plc, the brewing conglomerate. In June 2001, Basildon Crown Court ruled that the charges should be dropped because of the time that had elapsed since the offences were allegedly committed in the early 1990s. HH Judge Lockhart ruled that in the said allegation "there was never even the proposition of an arrestable offence owing to the manner upon which the Prosecuting Authorities had behaved and no pre-requisites for any crime having being committed." He further ruled: "in making the said decision the passing of time has played a minor consideration." Di Stefano received a payment in compensation from the authorities.

After the death of Harold Shipman, the doctor convicted of murdering fifteen of his patients, and suspected to have killed many more, di Stefano announced that he had been in the process of preparing an appeal against the conviction. This was denied by Bindman & Partners, the London solicitors who acted for Shipman, who said they had no knowledge of this. James Purnell, Member of Parliament for the constituency where Shipman had practised, wrote to the Lord Chancellor, asking for an investigation into di Stefano's conduct. Bindman & Partners no longer act for the relatives of Shipman's family. Owing to the ruling of 2002 mentioned above, no action could be taken by the Lord Chancellor.

[edit] Other activities

Di Stefano founded a political party with a view to contesting the May 2005 U.K. general election. This party, the "Radical Party of Great Britain", falls on the right of the political spectrum, with policies based on the fascist Italian regime of Benito Mussolini. The party did not in fact field any candidates in the election.

Di Stefano became a director of Dundee F.C. in 1999. Initially, the club attracted big-name players such as Craig Burley and Fabrizio Ravanelli, but the club's fortunes waned and di Stefano resigned from the club on 22 January 2004.

In April 2005, he proclaimed an interest in investing circa €1m in Irish football club Shelbourne F.C., but the club rejected his interest, citing his decision to let his intentions be known to the media first as the reason.

Current reports also suggest that he is considering another bid for Dundee F.C. and also considering a takeover bid for an eircom League Of Ireland club, possibly Waterford United F.C..

[edit] External links

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