French professor accused of 'gigantic hoax' after inventing Nobel-style prize

4 hours ago

Florent Montaclair, a literature professor, received a fake 2016 Gold Medal of Philology at a ceremony in the French national assembly, which he had invented and bought himself.
He is under investigation for forgery, fraud, and impersonation after allegedly using the fake award and a fake doctorate from a non-existent U.S. university to obtain a promotion and pay raise.
The hoax began to unravel when Romanian journalists exposed that the International Society of Philology and its affiliated university were fake, created through websites hosted in France.
Montaclair admitted to creating the medal and websites but denies wrongdoing, arguing that since no genuine medal exists, his cannot be a forgery.
The prosecutor highlighted that fraud implications arise when such fake awards are used for professional gain, leading to academic recognition that Montaclair would not have otherwise achieved.

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