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An upcoming Netflix docuseries plans to delve into the bizarre hoax perpetuated by an Italian pharmaceutical heir who claimed his dog Gunther VI controlled a $400 million fortune.
The newly released trailer for Gunther’s Millionsa four-part series set to premiere on February 1, teases new revelations about the long-running prank masterminded by Maurizio Mian.
The trailer released Monday hints at revelations about a “cult” household full of attractive young men who “worked” for the dog, and includes Mian’s outlandish new claim that Gunther VI is a clone.
For decades, Mian claimed to work for a family line of German Shepherds, all named Gunther, while using the ruse to attract press coverage and promote his various businesses and real estate deals.
In the story of Mian’s dogs, the Gunthers are reportedly supported by a multimillion-dollar trust established by German Countess Karlotta Liebenstein when she died in 1992 to care for her dog, Gunther III, and his progeny.
An upcoming Netflix docuseries delves into the longstanding hoax perpetrated by Maurizio Mian (above), who claimed his dog Gunther VI controlled a $400 million fortune.
There is no evidence that Liebenstein ever existed, and Mian told an Italian newspaper in 1995 that the Countess “was just an invention to publicize the philosophy” of its founding.
However, Mian has at other points claimed that his confessions about the countess are the real hoax and that the fairy tales about the dog are, in fact, real.
In upcoming Netflix docuseries, executive producers Aurelien Leturgie and Emilie Dumay seek to get to the truth behind Mian’s stories.
A statement from Netflix says the show will offer “never-before-seen footage” as well as “intimate and sometimes shocking conversations with Mian and the rest of Gunther’s longtime associates.”
“Over the past 30 years, Mian has built an empire on behalf of his canine boss, including glamorous real estate purchases, controversial social experiments, and one of the largest tax fraud schemes of all time,” the statement said.
“It’s a fairy tale that is both beautiful and strange, and naturally questions abound,” Netflix said.
Mian claimed that Gunther VI lived a life of luxury, enjoying private planes and yachts.
The trailer teases revelations about a house full of “fantastic-looking” human companions for Gunther VI who were under 24-hour surveillance and “encouraged to have sex.”
The trailer released on Monday shows snippets of interviews with several of Gunther VI’s ’employees’ and other human associates.
Some journalists were misled by Mian’s story that Gunther VI bought a house from Madonna for $7.5 million in 2000. The house was bought by a corporation associated with Mian.
The trailer released on Monday shows snippets of interviews with several of Gunther VI’s ’employees’ and other human associates.
“You’re talking about a dog that’s worth $400 million,” says one woman, adding with a roll of her eyes: “Oh, that’s a true story.” I work for the dog.
The trailer teases revelations about a house full of human companions for Gunther VI, who were under 24-hour surveillance and were “encouraged to have sex” with each other.
“He wanted great-looking young people to live with a rich dog,” says one man. ‘I say, ‘Are you crazy?’
“I wanted to be a tick on that dog’s butt for the rest of my life,” says another man.
When asked by an interviewer if the situation seemed “cult-like,” the man laughed, denying the accusation as “funny.”
Another woman says: ‘As long as we live in the mansion with Gunther, we’re going to enjoy the millions. It twisted a bit.
“We were like lab rats,” he added.
The documentary follows a series of stories about Gunther told by Mian, who has been telling stories about dogs since the 1990s.
In a clip from the trailer, Mian is seen in an old media appearance with one of the Gunthers.
At the end of the trailer, Mian makes another startling new claim, saying, “The dogs were cloned.”
The documentary follows a series of stories about Gunther told by Mian, who repeatedly misled journalists.
In 2021, many journalists were misled by Mian’s story that Gunther VI was selling a Miami mansion for $31.75 million, after buying the house from Madonna for $7.5 million.
Even the Associated Press, a respected news service, reported the story after receiving a press release from the publicists representing the real estate agents holding the listing.
The AP later retracted the story and issued a new report debunking Mian’s claims.
‘The AP published a story that did not meet our standards and should not have been published. We did not do our due diligence in the reporting process. We have corrected the story and apologize,” AP spokeswoman Lauren Easton said in a statement.
German shepherd Gunther VI sits poolside in a house that was formally owned by pop star Madonna in 2021. The claim that the dog was selling the mansion misled many journalists.
German shepherd Gunther VI chases a tennis ball thrown by self-proclaimed ‘handler’ Stacey Marino outside a house formally owned by pop star Madonna in 2021
German Shepherd Gunther VI sits on a plush round red velvet bed overlooking Biscayne Bay in the house formerly owned by Madonna
The corrected AP report noted that the head of the Gunther Group, the corporation that actually owned Madonna’s former home, refused to answer questions because “there is an exclusive contract with a Netflix production.”
In 1999, The Miami Herald reported that Gunther IV was trying to buy actor Sylvester Stallone a mansion. The next day, the Herald reported that it was just a publicity stunt.
“If you want to write a joke, you can write that,” Mian told the Herald. ‘I will not do anything.’
Mian’s own fortune appears to come from her family’s Italian pharmaceutical business, not from a German countess.
Istituto Gentili, which developed an osteoporosis treatment with US pharmaceutical giant Merck, was bought by Merck in 1997.