Italian fake Roman amphitheatre fraud

For about two decades, Franco Malosso, a 69‑year‑old Italian conman, promoted a fabricated Roman‑style amphitheatre near Vicenza as an ancient venue dating before 393 AD. He charged €40 per visitor, claimed the site had hosted historic figures such as Julius Caesar and Cleopatra, and even secured its inclusion in official tourism guides.

In 2016 local authorities filed a complaint, prompting archaeologists to inspect the structure. Their analysis, aided by satellite imagery, confirmed the amphitheatre was a modern construction of cement, fiberglass, plaster and papier‑mâché, with no genuine artefacts. Legal proceedings followed, and in 2024 the court sentenced Malosso (also listed as Franco Malosso von Rosenfranz) to two years and four months in prison, imposed a €3,000 fine, and ordered him to pay €560,000 in compensation to the municipality of Arcugnano.

The case underscores the vulnerability of cultural tourism to elaborate frauds and the role of expert verification in exposing counterfeit heritage sites.