ROME—By no stretch of the imagination does Francesco Galdelli look anything like George Clooney. But the 58-year-old Italian fraudster allegedly stole the American superstar’s image and forged Clooney’s signature to bilk scores of people out of thousands of euros from 2008 to 2010 with a faux fashion line called GC Exclusive by George Clooney. The premise was simple enough. Galdelli’s 45-year-old wife Vanya Goffi supposedly was an escort who, the couple claimed, had dated the actor—and Clooney gave his name as a way to pay homage to their impossible love story.
The only problem was that none of it was true. Goffi wasn't an escort, Clooney never dated her, and none of them ever met.
Galdelli and Vanya created the GC line, superimposing Clooney’s face onto photos of Galdelli’s body in shots snuggling up to Goffi and wearing fine Italian suits supposedly designed by the actor.
