In my 35 some odd years of flying I have ran into a few, a very, very few pilots that do what you have related. I find it very hard to believe that all, or that matter many, “American” ATPL pilots your friend relates to have falsified their logbooks.
The second worse case of a pilot lying about his flying time that I was involved with was an Englishman, turned out he only had a Private Pilot License with an expired physical. He was applying for a job as a captain on a Westwind.
I don’t think this will stay in R&N for long.