An Italian conman who constructed a fake Roman amphitheatre and charged tourists £35 to visit has been sentenced to prison. Franco Malosso von Rosenfranz, 69, claimed the Berico Maritime Amphitheatre near Vicenza was ‘the oldest and largest, among the most spectacular in the world’, dating back to 393AD. However, the structure was actually built in the early 2000s using stuccoed blocks, plaster statues, and columns made from fibreglass and papier-mache.
Deception of local government and tourists
The self-described ‘philanthropist, entrepreneur and orchestra conductor’ even deceived the local government, which included the site in a tourism promotion guide and app. Malosso told visitors he discovered the area along with historical artefacts from the Neolithic, Greek, and Roman eras. He fabricated stories that Julius Caesar visited the amphitheatre on his return from Egypt with Cleopatra, and that Juliet Capulet lived at an ancient church there, despite Shakespeare’s play being set in Verona.
Discovery and legal consequences
The scam was uncovered in 2016 when a police investigation was launched and archaeologists examined the site. Satellite images revealed recent landscape changes, and experts quickly noticed there was no ancient structure. Vicenza’s deputy mayor Jacopo Bulgarini D’Elci called it ‘one of the most incredible hoaxes since Orson Welles’s War of the Worlds’. Malosso was jailed this week for illegal construction, forgery of works of art, and production of artefacts without authorisation. He received a two-year and four-month sentence and a €3,000 fine. The Municipality of Arcugnano is seeking €560,000 in damages.
