Giovanni di Stefano: the 'Devil's advocate £1m conman He was a man who was willing to provide legal services to clients whose cases others considered unwinnable or too difficult to defend. He was willing to argue for unpopular causes. Somewhere along the way over the years, he acquired the soubriquet, or nickname, The Devil's Advocate. Mr di Stefano operated under the company name Studio Legalese Internazionale, which translates as the International Law Firm, and provided "legal advice" and "legal services" in many kinds of cases. He told a number of individuals that he was a lawyer, on many different occasions, said Mr Aaronberg. There were ten victims, or sets of victims, he added. "Between them, between June 2004 and December 2011, they lost a little under £1 million in sterling," Mr Aaronberg said. Some of those who lost money are people who themselves had been convicted of criminal offences. But, more often, it was their family members who were prevailed upon to hand over money to Mr di Stefano. The prosecutor explained to the jury that in 2002 the defendant managed to persuade a High Court judge, Mr Justice Peter Smith, to rule that he was an "avvocato" after he had been denied permission to visit a prospective client by the governor at Belmarsh prison. Mr Aaronberg said: "He personally informed Mr Justice Peter Smith that he was 'an Italian advocate of the Italian Bar" and 'a responsible lawyer." He added: "We suggest on that occasion he was telling deliberate lies." The barrister told the jury that Mr di Stefano would "point to this judgment" for many years when anybody questioned his credentials. Mr Di Stefano, of Canterbury, denies nine counts of obtaining a money transfer by deception, eight counts of fraud, and money launderingthree counts of acquiring criminal property, two counts of using a false instrument, one count of attempting to obtain a money transfer by deception, one count of obtaining property by deception and one count of using criminal property.