A FORMER Qantas steward rented Rolls-Royces, luxury holiday homes and offices to fool investors into thinking he was a wealthy and successful businessman, a court has heard.
Dimitri de Angelis, 46, appeared at a sentencing hearing in the Supreme Court in Sydney on Thursday after pleading guilty last month to 16 fraud charges.
The court heard he duped investors out of more than $8.5 million, telling them his recording company Emporium Music was a "foolproof scheme" that would turn a $100,000 investment into $6 million.
Those stung by de Angelis included Anne Keating, the sister of former prime minister Paul Keating, Sydney's former deputy lord mayor Marcelle Hoff, experienced businessmen and lawyers.
Prosecutor Michael O'Brien said de Angelis invited potential investors to "salubrious holiday homes" he rented for short periods at Palm Beach and other locations, giving the impression he owned them.
The Paris-born former Qantas steward drove them there in rented Rolls-Royces or Bentleys and also turned up at meetings in rented Ferraris, the court heard.
De Angelis, of Turramurra, also invited investors to rented offices in Sydney's CBD, at times giving the impression he not only owned the office, but owned the entire building.
Mr O'Brien said de Angelis showed photos of himself with the rich and famous to support the impression he was a highly successful and wealthy businessman.
He had himself photoshopped into pictures that appeared to show him with the Pope, former US presidents Bill Clinton and George W Bush, the Dalai Lama, former prime minister John Howard and businessman Kerry Packer.
De Angelis told some potential investors he often went to Kirribilli House to cook for his "friends", John and Janette Howard.
"Once Mr Rudd got in, he was very good friends with Mr Rudd," Mr O'Brien said.
One investor even believed she and de Angelis were to be married.
The court heard de Angelis spent much of the investors' money on his lifestyle, his partner Aaron Hung and Mr Hung's parents, between February 2005 and June 2009, when his scheme came unstuck.
Investors then realised "the whole thing was a house of cards that had come tumbling down," Mr O'Brien said.
Mr Hung's parents, now living in Taiwan, have put up $1 million in surety for de Angelis to be granted bail.
Defence lawyer Soruban Siva said his client had a narcissistic personality disorder, but at the outset he had genuinely intended to create a successful recording company.
"But he was hopelessly out of his depth, was inexperienced and did not have the ability to create a successful business."
Mr Siva said some money had been spent on recording and launching music CDs.
But he said his client had found it was "very easy through exaggeration and lies" to persuade people to invest significant amounts of money with him without him providing corroborative documents.
Justice Richard Cogswell will sentence de Angelis at a future date, with a jail term expected.
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