Franco Malosso Begins 2-Year Jail Term for Fake 5,000-Sq-Meter Italian Amphitheater
Updated
Updated · Gramilano · Aug 16
Franco Malosso Begins 2-Year Jail Term for Fake 5,000-Sq-Meter Italian Amphitheater
3 articles · Updated · Gramilano · Aug 16
Summary
Franco Malosso, 69, has been in a Ventimiglia prison for months after exhausting appeals over a fake “archaeological site” near Vicenza that charged visitors €40.
Investigators in 2016 found the 5,000-square-meter Anfiteatro Berico was a modern fabrication—weathered stone blocks, plaster statues, concrete columns and an artificial pond built on a cleared protected hillside.
Italy’s Court of Cassation in December 2021 upheld his conviction for illegal construction, art forgery and unauthorized building work, leaving intact a two-year, four-month sentence and a €3,000 fine.
A Vicenza court had already ordered Malosso in 2019 to compensate Arcugnano and remove the fake structures so the hillside could be restored, closing a case that stretched about a decade.