Italian Man Gets 2 Years 4 Months for €40 Fake Amphitheater Scam
Updated
Updated · 2oceansvibe News · Aug 24
Italian Man Gets 2 Years 4 Months for €40 Fake Amphitheater Scam
3 articles · Updated · 2oceansvibe News · Aug 24
Summary
Franco Malosso is serving a two-year and four-month sentence after Italy’s top court let stand convictions for illegal construction and art forgery tied to a fake “ancient” site near Vicenza.
€40 tours helped sustain the scam for about a decade: Malosso built a 5,000-square-metre complex of concrete, fibreglass and papier-mâché, then claimed a landslide had revealed ruins dating to AD 393.
2016 investigators found the structure stood on UNESCO-protected Berici Hills land without proper permits; court records said he had sought approval for a garage, then told builders to make the project look old.
The attraction had reached an EU-funded tourism guide and drew glowing TripAdvisor reviews before authorities intervened; the court also ordered the site demolished and the hillside restored.