Italian Man Dressed As Dead Mother In Order To Claim Her Pension

 Italian Man Dressed As Dead Mother In Order To Claim Her Pension

An Italian man is under investigation for welfare fraud and concealing a body after allegedly impersonating his deceased mother, including adopting her hairstyle with a wig, wearing makeup, and donning jewelry, in order to continue receiving her pension.

The man, from Borgo Virgilio near Mantua in northern Italy, allegedly received thousands of euros in pension payments after his mother's death in 2022. Instead of reporting her death, he hid her body in his home.

The scheme only came to light earlier this month when the 56-year-old man attempted to impersonate his mother to renew her identity card at a local council office, arousing the suspicion of an employee who alerted the police.

Authorities compared an official photograph of the deceased woman with one of her son, and police subsequently searched the man's home, where they found his mother's body hidden in the laundry room, according to investigators.

Francesco Aportti, the mayor of Borgo Virgilio, told Corriere della Sera that the man entered the council office disguised as an elderly woman. "He was wearing lipstick, nail polish, jewelry, and old-fashioned earrings, and had short, dark brown hair," Aportti added.

The man tried to imitate a female voice, "but occasionally, masculine tones emerged," the mayor said.

Upon closer inspection, the employee noticed that the man's neck "was rather thick and the wrinkles looked strange," adding, "The skin on his hands didn't look like that of an 85-year-old woman."

Corriere reported that the man was an unemployed nurse who, thanks to his mother's pension and three properties, had an annual income of €53,000.