The person who tricked Amanda Bynes into flying to L.A. where she ended up in a mental ward is none other than the man who some say created life-threatening peril for a then-unstable Britney Spears.
TMZ has learned ... Sam Lutfi -- who Britney's parents say was recklessly medicating her before she was eventually strapped to a stretcher and taken to a psych ward in 2008 -- contacted Amanda Thursday and convinced her to sue her parents. He got her to fly to L.A. so he could hook her up with a lawyer.
Here's what Amanda DIDN'T know ... Lutfi was secretly working with Amanda's parents and it was all an elaborate ruse to lure her out so doctors could place her on an involuntary psychiatric hold.
Hope she gets the help she needs though.
leave the poor girl alone