Vicenza, Italy
A Sicilian man is on trial for posing as the heir to the Portuguese throne. The last king of Portugal, Manuel II, was deposed in a revolution in 1910. Rosario Poidimani, 60, claimed to be his heir. He is accused of running a confidence scheme involving fake diplomatic IDs and imaginary offshore bank accounts. Poidimani kept an opulent throne room, where he allegedly sold fake rights to Portuguese aristocratic titles. Police said they confiscated hundreds of forged diplomatic passports and other bogus documents from Poidimani’s home in Sicily. They also hauled away his throne.
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