Italian fraudster Franco Malosso jailed for building a fake Roman amphitheatre

Franco Malosso, a 69‑year‑old Italian conman, constructed a fabricated Roman‑style amphitheatre near Vicenza, Italy, using cement, fiberglass, papier‑mâché and artificially aged stone. He marketed the site to tourists, charging €40 per visitor and claiming it was an ancient venue dating before 393 AD, even appearing in an official guidebook.

In 2016, after a complaint from local authorities, archaeologists inspected the structure and confirmed it was a modern hoax with no genuine artefacts. A court sentenced Malosso to two years and four months in prison for forging artworks, producing unauthorised artefacts and violating building codes.