A phony sultan who swindled two woman out of $110,000 by pretending to be fabulously wealthy, even as he lived in a Queens walk-up apartment, was convicted yesterday of charges that could net him up to 22 years in prison.
Sultan Ibn Chandler Sabah al Sabah Dantata – a Connecticut native who was born Benjamin Maybanks – claimed to be a member of Kuwait’s royal family in a con that included wearing Arab garb, affecting an English accent and riding in a limo.
A Manhattan Supreme Court jury deliberated just two hours before finding a stone-faced Dantata guilty of grand larceny and scheming to defraud after a trial at which his Japanese victims told how the 41-year-old con man stole their money, jewelry and hearts.
“It was all fiction,” prosecutor Janet Lipinski said of Dantata’s story.
Defense lawyer Stanislao German argued that Dantata never lied to the women – claiming they gave him gifts because “he’s tall, dark and handsome – aren’t those the three criteria?”
Dantata previously pleaded guilty to using the sultan scam to dupe a Park Avenue store out of more than $100,000 in jewelry.