In 2010 Dimitri de Angelis was arrested on charges of ‘making false statements to obtain money’, ‘knowingly dealing with the proceeds of crime’ and ‘publishing false statements with intent to deceive’ after allegedly swindling millions of dollars from various prominent Australians using a series of photoshopped pictures that tricked would-be partners into investing funds into his fake record label.
Despite maintaining his innocence in 2010, with the Sydney Morning Herald quoting De Angelis as claiming he was, “not the kind of person who takes advantage of people”, De Angelis has recently pleaded guilty to a total of 16 fraud charges, according to Nine MSN Finance.
As reported by News.com.au, De Angelis has admitted to pasting his face over the pictures of other individuals to make it seem as though de Angelis was well connected with elite social, business and political figures. One example given is de Angelis photshopping his face over that of James Packer so it appeared that de Angelis was an associate of Kerry Packer.
Other photoshopped images pictured De Angelis with the likes of Bill Clinton (pictures above), John Howard, Pope John Paul II, Nelson Mandela and the Dalai Lama.
De Angelis displayed the fake photographs in his office in Chifley Square in the CBD, which was a front for his fake record label Emporium Music, in order to dupe people such as the likes of Sydney’s former Deputy Lord Mayor, Marcelle Hoff, into investing money into his fabricated company.
All in all a total of 14 victims lost a combined amount of over $8.5 million, which De Angelis used to live in luxury: taking international holidays, riding around in limos and actually meeting performers such as David Campbell and Guy Sebastian, all on other people’s dime.
De Angelis was declared bankrupt in 2011
