Saddam's lawyer bids for Shels!!

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Shels official release
:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

dbnavan

seansouth wrote:

Shels official release
:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

Isnt he the go**hite who was on the late late show a few weeks ago, Dutchy's Solicitor.

kippy

Isnt he the go**hite who was on the late late show a few weeks ago, Dutchy's Solicitor.

Yep thats him,
Represents John Gilligan as well from what I recall..
Kippy

dbnavan

That chap is off his rocker! Even with all the money he has, i wouldnt like him near my beloved shels! Would even like him walking down richmond rd never mind in tolka!

gimmick

Some might say a match made in heaven!

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Jaysis, I know Ollie has convictions for Ciggie smuggling, hardly makes him a genocidal maniac though does it?

Unless he means to wipe The People's Republic off the map

Töpher

Would that really be a bad thing?

The more I read about this guy the more and more opposed I get! Ugh!

Töpher

http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=954&id=1129122003

No fcuking way!!

Jonny Arson

The fact that he represents an evil wankstain on humanity in the form of Saddam should tell you all you need to know about him.

Big Nelly

Zane from MTV2 wrote:

The fact that he represents an evil wankstain on humanity in the form of Saddam should tell you all you need to know about him.

I think you will find its just a high profile job for him. Means in future he will be known in the press etc so might get some more high profile cases. Its just a job remember. most jobs in this world will have someone else who will hate what you are doing......

therecklessone

Zane from MTV2 wrote:

The fact that he represents an evil wankstain on humanity in the form of Saddam should tell you all you need to know about him.

The perfect man to talk to Ollie so...;)

county

this man is a snake i remember seeing a documentary about the man,he would defend his mothers killer if the price was right

MrJoeSoap

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.

Among the cases he has worked on are:

* The late paramilitary leader Arkan, charged with war crimes before his murder;
* Kenneth Noye, convicted of murdering a man in a road rage incident in London before fleeing to Spain;
* Slobodan Milošević, the Serbian President charged with genocide;
* John "Goldfinger" Palmer, a timeshare fraudster whom he helped to retain £33m worth of fraudulently acquired money;
* Jeremy Bamber, who murdered five members of his own family;
* Jonathan King, the pop-music impresario convicted of sexual offences against children; and
* Saddam Hussein, the former Iraqi dictator.

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".

Seems like an out-and-out creep tbh.

The Guardian describes him as "friend of Saddam Hussein, admirer of Osama bin Laden"

KdjaCL

Jesus that Sheliban lad was right all the time :eek:


kdjac

Bob the Seducer

Di Stefano became a director of Dundee FC 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.


From the Scotsman.com

The would-be saviour of Dundee FC, Giovanni Di Stefano, is a convicted fraudster who has lied about his criminal past and his educational qualifications.

Since his release from prison in 1988, Di Stefano has repeatedly maintained that he was acquitted of the charges on appeal - but an investigation by Scotland on Sunday has revealed that he was not only convicted, but that his later appeal was dismissed.

In addition, Di Stefano has been banned from entering New Zealand as a prohibited immigrant and was deported from the US as an inadmissible alien.

Sentencing him to five years in prison in 1986, Judge Anthony Lewisohn concluded that Di Stefano is "one of nature’s fraudsters ... a swindler without scruple or conscience".

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 10 years.

Di Stefano’s banning from New Zealand was heavily publicised in that country in 1990. He had gone there claiming to have $100m to invest in property developments, but the New Zealand authorities refused him entry as a "prohibited immigrant"

Di Stefano was deported from the USA in 1992. Di Stefano had been in the USA on a highly-publicised attempt to buy the film studio MGM, a bid described in Variety newspaper by one executive of the film company as the stuff of "Alice in Wonderland." MGM later won damages from Di Stefano.


(Edited to include more info)

ronbyrne2005

somebody has to defend these people,do you think he actually endorses their behaviour? in america people like him are highly regarded (look at johnny cochrane etc) and well paid(maybe he just wants these bad peoples money) ,now personally i couldnt do it but he seems to be able to detach himself and act in a professional manner,maybe he's an attention seeker or similar but i dont think we can say he's a bad person,greedy and misguided maybe but i dont think people should oppose him investing in shels.

MrJoeSoap

ronbyrne2005 wrote:

somebody has to defend these people,do you think he actually endorses their behaviour? in america people like him are highly regarded (look at johnny cochrane etc) and well paid(maybe he just wants these bad peoples money) ,now personally i couldnt do it but he seems to be able to detach himself and act in a professional manner,maybe he's an attention seeker or similar but i dont think we can say he's a bad person,greedy and misguided maybe but i dont think people should oppose him investing in shels.

Ron, have a read of the article that Einsturzende posted above and see if you still think that.

It's not the fact that he defended these people that is getting to people, there's a lot more to this guy than just being a high-profile lawyer.

ronbyrne2005

yeah having read the above article now i wouldnt be encouraging him to invest in bohs! if ollie can get investment outta him and not let him near any of shels assets/bank accounts etc im sure theres little chance of him doing anything like in that article,he has made a lot of money since the incidents above and im sure a small irish football club hasnt a huge amount of attractions for fraud etc.i'd give him a chance once he cant do anything negative to the club. i'd much prefer to see an irish businessman coming in and getting an eircom league club to champ league group stages but they seem too interested in gaa and horses.
joesoap ,if he invested money and got youse to group stages and didnt cause any harm to the club would you accept him?

MrJoeSoap

• Promised to put Dundee in the Champions League. Failed quite miserably, with the club facing insolvency.
  
• Gordonstoun Private School sued him for non-payment of fees.
  
• A convicted fraudster who has consistently lied about his criminal past and his educational qualifications and is presently involved in a huge political scandal in Italy.
  
• Lied about his past as a criminal.
  
• He was convicted of serious fraud offences on March 18, 1986 following a 78-day trial at the Old Bailey in London. The amount of money involved in the fraud 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.
  
• Sentencing him to five years in prison, Judge Anthony Lewisohn concluded that Di Stefano is "one of nature’s fraudsters ... a swindler without scruple or conscience".
  
• 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 10 years.
  
• Since his release from Ford Open prison in 1988, Di Stefano has hoodwinked public authorities and the media worldwide and his new associates at Dundee FC, repeatedly maintaining that he was acquitted of the charges on appeal.
  
• Shortly after his first attempt to buy into Dundee FC four years ago, Italian police arrested Di Stefano and he was later extradited to face trial in Britain. Less than 30 months ago, the man who claims to have millions to spend on players for Dundee was in jail awaiting trial on fraud charges.
  
• The judge at Basildon Crown Court ruled in June, 2001, that the charges, which related to alleged fraud involving a hotels company called Sandhurst Assets, had to be dropped because of the time that had elapsed since the offences were allegedly committed in the early 1990s. Fraud Squad officers were said to have been angered by the decision "on a technicality" after their lengthy inquiries into Di Stefano.
  
• A highly dubious operator, with a track-record of failed companies.
  
• In 1991, Giovanni Di Stefano became company secretary of Sandhurst Assets plc. Other directors included a Tanya Di Stefano - it is not clear if she was a relation - and a Richard Page. A Reverend Dr Richard Page has accompanied Di Stefano on his trips to Dens Park. He was one of four people recently appointed "Associate Directors" by Dundee FC even though there is no such class of directorate recognised by the SFA.
  
• Though Di Stefano was not made personally bankrupt, Sandhurst Assets was later declared insolvent then put into liquidation and wound up by Whitbread the brewers.
  
• He has been deported from the USA and banned from entering New Zealand as a prohibited immigrant.
  
• Di Stefano’s banning from New Zealand was heavily publicised in that country in 1990. He had gone there claiming to have $100m to invest in property developments, but 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.
  
• Was deported from the USA in 1992 by the US Government. Federal Court documents published for the first time today 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 USA on a highly-publicised attempt to buy the film studio MGM, a bid described in Variety newspaper by one executive of the film company as the stuff of "Alice in Wonderland." MGM later won damages from Di Stefano.
  
• Recently, serious doubt has been cast in an English court over Di Stefano’s claim that he is an Italian avvocato (lawyer).
  
• In November of last year, 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 the documentary evidence to support his assertion that he is a qualified advocate.
  
• He falsely claimed that he earned a doctorate from Cambridge University in 1981. He has also called himself Doctor in the past, as he would be entitled to do if he had obtained a PhD.
  
• In Marquis Who’s Who, Di Stefano claims to be a fellow of both the Royal Society of Arts and the Royal Microscopical Society. Neither Fellowship is an honour. They can be bought over the internet - the former costs £150 to obtain and the latter £115.

ronbyrne2005

roy keane should invest a bit of his fortune in cobh and get them to champs league.he could manage them too if he wanted ,that would be class,i think cobh would become biggest club in ireland under him!

MrJoeSoap

ronbyrne2005 wrote:

joesoap ,if he invested money and got youse to group stages and didnt cause any harm to the club would you accept him?

Of course I would. But from his past record it is not a chance I am even remotely willing to take.

Töpher

In football terms he has two past experiences.

Obicidil (or something): From Division 2 strugglers in serbia or somewhere, took them to Champions League.

Dundee: Don't even go there...

ronbyrne2005

MrJoeSoap wrote:

Of course I would. But from his past record it is not a chance I am even remotely willing to take.

do you think ollie would give him even a sniff of a chance to damage the club? once everything was done transparently with correct financial/legal controls i cant see a problem.
anyway why cant shels just use money from selling their interest in tolka to develop team and get to champions league group stages? how much are they gonna get for tolka? are they gonna move to dalyer or a brand new stadium?

KdjaCL

ronbyrne2005 wrote:

anyway why cant shels just use money from selling their interest in tolka to develop team and get to champions league group stages? how much are they gonna get for tolka? are they gonna move to dalyer or a brand new stadium?

Could be moving to Inchicore or Tallaght the 2nd being my personal favourite.


They need investing just like any club in the country byt sticking this on their website they are letting the world know that would be interested in investment. Would have to be non nationals tho as Irish people with money and great buisness sense seem to do the following for great returns

Aston Villa .... 70 MIllion LOL its like printing your own money.
Sunderland another 70 Million why not buy a photo copier and make money that way, be quicker.
Glasgow Celtic biggest club in the worldish who barely make a profit.

Some top bright sparks investing there. Whereas other non irish people realise that it would be considerably cheaper to get a decent return on an investment if you did it here.

kdjac

ronbyrne2005

KdjaC wrote:

Could be moving to Inchicore or Tallaght the 2nd being my personal favourite.


They need investing just like any club in the country byt sticking this on their website they are letting the world know that would be interested in investment. Would have to be non nationals tho as Irish people with money and great buisness sense seem to do the following for great returns

Aston Villa .... 70 MIllion LOL its like printing your own money.
Sunderland another 70 Million why not buy a photo copier and make money that way, be quicker.
Glasgow Celtic biggest club in the worldish who barely make a profit.

Some top bright sparks investing there. Whereas other non irish people realise that it would be considerably cheaper to get a decent return on an investment if you did it here.

kdjac

even if the eircom league club was loss making but succesful they still wouldnt want to invest.jp mc manus gives millions to limerick gaa,surely some guy could stick a few million into an EL club and enjoy feeling of getting an irish team to champions league group stages or further (look at port and villa real ,two small clubs)

Töpher

Apparently he said on Newstalk he's just looking to invest, not buy.

MrJoeSoap

ronbyrne2005 wrote:

jp mc manus gives millions to limerick gaa,surely some guy could stick a few million into an EL club and enjoy feeling of getting an irish team to champions league group stages or further (look at port and villa real ,two small clubs)

I'd be amazed if JP McManus even knew the eL existed.

finnpark

I think its great news. £450million in the bank, hes not all bad. If he invests just £6m in Shels your looking at Champions League group stages. Remember its not like Scotland where you have to compete with Celtic , Rangers and now Hearts. Hes welcome at Harps anytime;)

KdjaCL

ronbyrne2005 wrote:

even if the eircom league club was loss making but succesful they still wouldnt want to invest.jp mc manus gives millions to limerick gaa,surely some guy could stick a few million into an EL club and enjoy feeling of getting an irish team to champions league group stages or further (look at port and villa real ,two small clubs)

Raises one simple question, How much does entry to the CL cost? Once you get there and play 6 games your up 15 million quid.

For Celtic Sunderland and Villa (please stop laughing) to get into the CL and repay the investment it would cost quite a lot more than the initial 70 million (which pays debts afaik for the last 2).

If you took Shels a club in modest debt compared to Villa and Sunderland, and were intent on getting them into the CL, Shels dont buy players but have the best ones. I would say if they had 3 million they would make the CL in 2 years, if cork had the same maybe sooner, for Pats or Rovers to get into the CL i would guess 12 million and maybe 4 years.


Not involving Stadia which Pats and Rovers wouldnt have, just on coaching staff and players, How much investment is needed to get a decent return? So if DiStefano hands over 2 million clears Shels debts and gets in a new manager you would certainly fancy a decent return on 2 million if they made it.

After all , its only a simple draw and im sure that UEFA would make it nice and simple


kdjac

MrJoeSoap

finnpark wrote:

I think its great news. £450million in the bank, hes not all bad. If he invests just £6m in Shels your looking at Champions League group stages. Remember its not like Scotland where you have to compete with Celtic , Rangers and now Hearts. Hes welcome at Harps anytime;)

He also apparently said on Newstalk that he wouldn't be investing millions.

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KdjaC wrote:

and gets in a new manager

Our current manager has taken us to the last qualifying stage for the CL already, I'm sure with a couple of million quid backing he'd take us a step further.

KdjaCL

seansouth wrote:

Our current manager has taken us to the last qualifying stage for the CL already, I'm sure with a couple of million quid backing he'd take us a step further.

And yet still takes 30 games to figure out his best 11 How many straight wins when he sussed it last season? Then breaks it up again at the start of this season and Shels have a horrible start. I hope Shels keep Fenlon for ever tbh as is showing again this season he doesnt know his best 11 till someone else tells him it.


kdjac

ronbyrne2005

i'd say 5million would get shels/cork or any well supported team into group stages within 3 years. cork might be a better investment as they have much more support

KdjaCL

ronbyrne2005 wrote:

i'd say 5million would get shels/cork or any well supported team into group stages within 3 years. cork might be a better investment as they have much more support

Dont need to be well supported as Shels proved if you get to the final QF stage suddenly you have 27000 fans, Shels dont actually need many players maybe another quality striker to force the main 2 to play a bit more. But Cork could do with 2 or 3 players as their squad is fairly thin.

With 5 million i would expect both of them to get into ther group stages and so would whoever gave that 5 million


kdjac

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KdjaC wrote:

Dont need to be well supported as Shels proved if you get to the final QF stage suddenly you have 27000 fans

Must've missed us being in the QF stage?

KdjaCL

seansouth wrote:

Must've missed us being in the QF stage?

Final QualFying.


Duh


kdjac

ronbyrne2005

seansouth wrote:

Must've missed us being in the QF stage?

qf =qualifying i assume

KdjaCL

ronbyrne2005 wrote:

qf =qualifying i assume

Seansouth isnt small hes just far away, so needs to get in these little digs


kdjac

ronbyrne2005

the 27000 at lansdowne shows how fickle irish soccer fans are, all dublin teams in EL barely get 12000 people combined in to their dublin fixtures on any given weekend.

MrJoeSoap

ronbyrne2005 wrote:

the 27000 at lansdowne shows how fickle irish soccer fans are, all dublin teams in EL barely get 12000 people combined in to their dublin fixtures on any given weekend.

We had barely 8 or 9,000 in the next game after Deportivo (against Lille). A perfect example of how fickle Irish soccer fans are.

Might have had something to do with the rain...

Seeing Irish people in Deportivo jerseys that days was sickening.

Töpher

BBC Sport reporting he just wants to invest £750,000+, but would love to own if the opportunity arose.

Töpher

http://www.breakingnews.ie/2006/04/20/story255082.html

A new link, the exact same story is reported on several sites, citing a €1m bid for a minority shareholding. The text also says this would wipe out all debts overnight, and leave money for on-pitch dealings.

Töpher

http://www.ireland.com/sports/soccer/2006/0420/1144908503932.html wrote:

Controversial legal figure Giovanni di Stefano has said his potential investment in Shelbourne football club is not a takeover.

Speaking from Rome, Di Stefano, who is known as the "devil's advocate" and has advised Saddam Hussein and former Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic, said his involvement with the Drumcondra club would be "minor" and in the form of a "participation agreement".

He also said there was another unnamed Irish club he had considered investing in. "There were two clubs in Ireland. One, a smaller club south of Dublin, wanted a complete takeover for smaller money, but I wasn't interested in that."

Shelbourne chief executive Ollie Byrne today confirmed the club had received a preliminary approach from the Italian-born lawyer who also represents Patrick "Dutchy" Holland, the man named in court as having shot journalist Veronica Guerin.

"Ollie Byrne has had this club in his family for generations and I can safely assure all connected with the club that his association with Shelbourne will remain as strong as it ever was," Di Stefano said.

"This will remain his club, not mine, as I'm not experienced in this game . . . sure I didn't know the offside rule until recently."

Byrne said: "We know very little about him and out of courtesy we have accepted an invitation to meet with him. We will approach the meeting with open minds and listen to what he has to say."

The primary concern is to secure the future of Shelbourne FC, said the Dubliner, and "nothing would be done to jeopardise this".

Di Stefano approached Byrne following the club's recent tax problems.

Earlier this month, Shelbourne cleared outstanding arrears due to the Revenue Commissioners totalling some €300,000.

"The club had tax issues and I saw an opportunity to help. I see this a minimal risk investment where I can freely spend half a million euro or even a million euro," Di Stefano said.

Shelbourne supporters have greeted the news with caution.

It is not the first time Di Stefano, who was given a five years prison sentence for fraud in 1986, has turned his attention to football.

In 1999 he approached former Scottish SPL side Dundee with a view to taking over, but a deal fell through. Subsequent attempts to gain controlling interests in Norwich City and Northampton Town also ended in failure.

Di Stefano renewed his interest in Dundee in August 2003 offering to invest £26 million to save the club, but his position as a director was never officially ratified by the Scottish Football Association.

In November 2003, Dundee was placed in administration with debts nearing £20 million. Di Stefano, having fallen out with the Marrs, resigned two months later.

The club argued that Di Stefano failed to arrange the funding he had promised, but he strongly refutes this. He claims he wanted to buy the club for a nominal fee and take over the debts, but the Marrs, who are still Dundee board members, were not convinced Di Stefano had the required funds in place.

While Di Stefano does not claim to be friends with Saddam Hussein he has called the former Iraqi leader a "nice man". "Saddam is not my pal," he once said. "A pal is someone who you go drinking with."

The Italian has also claimed to have worked on an appeal for British serial killer Dr Harold Shipman and says he briefly met Osama bin Laden in Baghdad in 1998.

Of his high-profile, controversial, client list he has said: "I deal with people who are alleged to have committed serious criminal offences. I do not defend Snow White unless she is charged with the seven perverts."

Bray were interested? Well, assuming the "small club south of Dublin" is infact Bray. Or could it have been Waterford?

Interesting to see what he said about his role, that it would be very minor. Basically he just wants to "freely spend half a million or even a million euro". (Though how much of that can we trust?!)

Chucky the tree

MrJoeSoap wrote:

We had barely 8 or 9,000 in the next game after Deportivo (against Lille). A perfect example of how fickle Irish soccer fans are.

Might have had something to do with the rain...

Seeing Irish people in Deportivo jerseys that days was sickening.

Maybe they were rover, bohs or any other EL supporters in the depor jerseys? I was certainly supporting depor that night anyway.


Its going to be alot harder to qualify to CL group stage then people think. Until irish teams do well in UEFA cup aswell our points total will be very low, and we will always end up with a tough draw in the 3rd round. I know people will say how close shels got, but i would put that down to a freak.

If any club get a big investment it will only be bad for the league.

MrJoeSoap

Chucky the tree wrote:

Maybe they were rover, bohs or any other EL supporters in the depor jerseys? I was certainly supporting depor that night anyway.

I think when it comes to Europe most EL fans will shout for their rivals. I've been to Bohs/Pats games shouting for them in Europe and I know many fans of theirs who have supported us.

I'm actually disappointed someone Irish would shout for a Spanish team over an Irish team. If Cork (or anyone) were to get to the 3rd Qual Round of the CL I know I'd be cheering them on, even if it did mean they would have a vast financial monopoly for years to come!

Chucky the tree

MrJoeSoap wrote:

I think when it comes to Europe most EL fans will shout for their rivals. I've been to Bohs/Pats games shouting for them in Europe and I know many fans of theirs who have supported us.

I'm actually disappointed someone Irish would shout for a Spanish team over an Irish team. If Cork (or anyone) were to get to the 3rd Qual Round of the CL I know I'd be cheering them on, even if it did mean they would have a vast financial monopoly for years to come!

I would support them in the UEfa cup, not a huge amount of money in that. But the Champions league is a massive difference. But would the league not lose its excitment and appeal if one team ran away with it every year?

MrJoeSoap

Chucky the tree wrote:

I would support them in the UEfa cup, not a huge amount of money in that. But the Champions league is a massive difference. But would the league not lose its excitment and appeal if one team ran away with it every year?

It's a Catch 22 really.

We could either stay as we are, a round or two off the CL and UEFA Cup group stages and barely surviving...

or

One team qualifies for the CL, gets a monopoly on the league for a few years, attendances pick up and other teams follow suit by doing well in UEFA Cup etc... It might go stale for a few years alright, but I guess theres no real way of finding out until it happens.

Norway might be a decent case study.

MrJoeSoap

Nothing on the 6 o'clock news, 9 o'clock news or News Two about it.

Chucky the tree

MrJoeSoap wrote:

It's a Catch 22 really.

We could either stay as we are, a round or two off the CL and UEFA Cup group stages and barely surviving...

or

One team qualifies for the CL, gets a monopoly on the league for a few years, attendances pick up and other teams follow suit by doing well in UEFA Cup etc... It might go stale for a few years alright, but I guess theres no real way of finding out until it happens.

Norway might be a decent case study.

Would attendances really pick up though? i think it would just be a case of 3 mathes played in landsowne, then the gates we have now staying the same for the EL.

I suppose if even 2 teams did well it wouldnt be too bad. If cork make to to the group stages of the CL and Derry and/or shels make it the group stages of the UEFA cup that would be a good thing, a 2-horse race is better then a is better then nothing!

MrJoeSoap

Chucky the tree wrote:

Would attendances really pick up though? i think it would just be a case of 3 mathes played in landsowne, then the gates we have now staying the same for the EL.

I'd imagine there might be some sort of a knock-on effect (especially for the club in question), but as I said it is very hard to know/predict.

blu_sonic

i bet he and ollie would be great mates!!

get him in, if for nothing else just for the chants we'd come up with