Italian conman jailed after building bogus Roman historical marvel and charging tourists to see it

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An Italian conman has been jailed after building a fake Roman amphitheatre and charging people to visit.Franco Malosso, who also goes by Franco Malosso von Rosenfranz, charged tourists €40 (£35) to visit a site which he described as the world's first open-air amphitheatre.The Berico Maritime Amphitheatre, near the northeastern city of Vicenza, featured ruined columns, stone steps and statues and was claimed by the fraudster to have been built before 393 AD.But it turned out the site, which supposedly was home to Neolithic, Greek and Roman artefacts, only dated back to the early 2000s.

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TRENDING Stories Videos Your Say The 69-year-old fraudster has been sentenced to two year and four months for forging artworks, producing artefacts without authorisation and violating building codes.In 2016, the Italian Carabinieri conducted an investigation into the site, authorised by the Vicenza prosecutor's office.Archaeologists concluded there had been no ancient structures, and Malosso had levelled...

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