Thai police have nabbed an Italian couple wanted in their home country for impersonating Hollywood star George Clooney to trick people into investing in their bogus clothing company, police told dpa on Monday.
Francesco Galdeli, 58, and Vanja Goffi, 45, were arrested on Saturday at their home near the popular beach town of Pattaya on an Interpol Red Notice, said Arun Vachirasrisukanya of the Crime Suppression Division.
The couple has been dubbed the Italian Bonnie and Clyde after the legendary U.S. gangster couple.
They scammed investors a total of nearly 2.2 million dollars by falsely claiming they were creating a clothing label using the actor’s name, according to Interpol.
They were sued by the celebrity in 2010 and found guilty of fraud by a Milan court in 2014.
Galdeli was sentenced to eight years and four months, while Goffi was sentenced to six years and five months.
The pair fled to Thailand shortly before the verdict was delivered.
They have been charged by Thai authorities for overstaying their Thai visa and will need to pay a fine before being extradited back to Italy, Arun said.
NAN reports that Clooney is the recipient of three Golden Globe Awards and two Acedemy Awards, one for acting in Syriana(2006) and the other for co-producing Argo (2012).
In 2018, he was the recipient of the AFI Lifetime Achievement Award, among others.
dpa/NAN
