THE SO-CALLED 'lawyer' representing drug baron John Gilligan - whose criminal gang murdered journalist Veronica Gueril1 - is facing trial multiple charges of fraud in two weeks.
Giovanni di Stefano was back spinning Gilligan's propaganda this week after two national newspapers gave him a platform to claim that his "client" wants to go straight and write his life story when freed from prison this year.
Di Stefano was described by journalists as a "lawyer". 'What the stories failed to mention, however, is that the man branded 'the devil's advocate' was speaking- while -on bail after being charged with a string of fraud offences including "falsely purporting" to be an Italian lawyer.
He was bailed on condition that he live and sleep at one of two addresses in Canterbury and London, report each Saturday to police, surrender his passport, abide by a midnight to 6am curfew and make no contact with witnesses. Di Stefano's own lawyers say he "vigorously" denies the allegations and will plead not guilty to all charges.
Deception
But the shady con artist already has at least 19 convictions for fraud and deception and has served eight years in prison for his criminal activities.
The fact that he is still being referred to as a 'lawyer' by sections of the Irish media is astounding, to say the least. It is more than six years now since theSunday World first revealed that Di Stefano is a conman with ahsolutely no legal qualifications.
On the contrary, he is a pathological liar who has proved time and again to be a WaIter Mitty-style character who has embedded him-self with criminals in an effort to boost his own ego. An Old Bailey judge has described him as "one of nature's fraudsters" and "a swindler without scruple of conscience".
Italian police enquiries have concluded that he is not entitled to practice law there and a Eurojust report - the EU's Judicial Co-operation Unit - has said it is impossible that he could legally practice law in any other country. Di Stefano was extradited from Spain last February after he was arrested at his villa in Majorca. His trial is due to get underway at Southwark Crown Court on January 28.
The Italian, who grew up in London, has tried very hard to cement his reputation as a 'lawyer' for some of the world's most evil, claiming to legally represent the Balkan warlord known as 'Arkan', Saddam Hussein and Moors killer ran Brady among a long list of 'celebrity' criminals and killers.
He turned his attention to Ireland after he started representing Patrick Eugene 'Dutchu' Holland, the man gardai believe assassinated Guerin on the orders of John Gilligan. Holland, a professional hitman, was another pathological liar who passed a lie detector test while telling untruths - a skill common among psychopaths.
It was Holland who introduced Di Stefano to Gilligan, who is due for release later this year. Since then, Di Stefano has popped up time and again protesting Gilligan's innocence and his commitment to going straight.
Last week the Sunday World ran a story about fears that Gilligan hopes to return to the drug trade once he is set free from prison. Senior and reliable Garda sources say that the tiny thug has continued to try to run his empire from behind bars and has invested his hidden millions in the continuation of his once hugely lucrative business.
While not organising drug shipments, he has spent his time studying law and coming up with as many ways as possible to thwart our legal system, Days" later, a national newspaper ran a front-page story quoting bailed fraudster Di Stefano exten- sively and incredibly insisting that Gilligan, a career criminal of 40 years, is looking forward to getting out and "going straight".
It reported Di Stefano insisting the drug baron, from Ballyfermot in Dublin, only wants to become a "family man" and live out his life with his kids and grandkid - a future denied to the reporter shot dead by the Gilligan gang on the Naas Road in 1996.
Those who know Gilligan,who beat Veronica in a vicious assault before she was murdered, say that the ludicrous claims making front page news would have amused the gangster no end.
The crime lord has cost the State more than €20million, fighting the Criminal Assets Bureau ( CAB ) through the courts as it attempted to seize his Jessbrook Equestrian Centre, near Leixlip, Co. Kildare.
Last year, after a decade of legal battles, the Supreme Court gave permission to the CAB to sell the Kildare centre, including a 3,000- seat arena arid 90 acres of land and stables, but barred the sale of the main house on the estate where the court was told Gilligan's wife Geraldine lives.
In his interview this week, Di Stefano insisted that he advised Gilligan to go to Spain, but that the thug said he wanted to stay in Jessbrook - an obvious 'two fingers' to the Gardai who have worked tirelessly to strip him of what assets they could.
Another national newspaper quoted his 'lawyer' Stefano as claiming the jailed mob boss is hoping to earn enough money from writing his life story to support himself once he is out of prison.
Fortune
At one point, Gilligan was making tens of thousands a week importing drugs into Ireland. After the murder of Veronica Guerin and the Garda investigation into his gang, officers remained convinced that he has squirrelled away a fortune in Spain where his wife Geraldine and daughter Tracey run the Judge's Chambers pub.
CAB officers, assisted by the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation (GBFI), identified a string of properties and businesses including the pub, five warehouses, two boats, six houses, two motor vehicles and a construction firm.
However, none were linked directly to his name and they couldn't be seized. Officers who have investigated the five-foot thug for years believe that was only the tip of the iceberg and that Gilligan had laundered countless millions that they couldn't even identify.
No doubt it amused him greatly to read of his plans to live such a sedate retirement on the proceeds of an autobiography once he gets out.
