A former Dundee FC director is appealing a string of convictions against his name.
Convicted fraudster Giovanni di Stefano, 59, joined the board at Dens Park in 2003, helping bring stars such as striker Fabrizio Ravanelli to the club.
But in March 2013 he was jailed for 14 years after being convicted of 25 charges at Southwark Crown Court, in London, which included deception, fraud and money laundering between 2001 and 2011.
Di Stefano was rumbled as being a fraud with no legal training despite having well-known “seemingly indefensible” clients whose convictions he tried to overturn.
Among his clients were mass murderers Harold Shipman and Saddam Hussein, plus drugs lord John Gilligan and his henchman Patrick “Dutchy” Holland.
In 2003, di Stefano managed to secure the release from prison of gangland criminal John “Goldfinger” Palmer on a technicality. Palmer was fined €46million for timeshare fraud which he later avoided paying.
Last week, Palmer was found shot dead at his Essex home.
Now, di Stefano is trying to overturn his own conviction at the Criminal Cases Review Commission who have confirmed they have received his application for the case to be reviewed.
During di Stefano’s trial at Southwark Crown Court, Judge Alistair McCreath, the Recorder of Westminster, said the Italian picked “vulnerable” clients.
He said: “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.”
During the hearing, di Stefano told the court of his links to terrorists such as Osama bin Laden, as well as Saddam Hussein and also the Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe.
The court was shown a 2004 BBC documentary where he described Hussein as a “nice guy”.
Di Stefano first became a well-known name in Scottish football in 1999 when he claimed he had purchased 34% of Dundee FC, despite the Dens Park board denying the claim.
They rejected his bid when it was made public that he was friend of Serbian warlord Arkan, and that Suffolk police had issued an extradition warrant for fraud charges dating back to 1991.
But di Stefano eventually got his way in 2003 when he was appointed a director at Dundee FC.
The club ran into financial difficulties shortly afterwards and 15 senior players were released from their contracts.
The Scottish Football Association also refused to accept di Stefano as a “fit and proper person” and he soon resigned from his position.
This article originally appeared on the Evening Telegraph website. For more information, read about our new combined website.