Photo: Police
An Italian man is accused of dressing up as his dead mother as part of a Mrs. Doubtfire-style pension scam.
The unidentified 56-year-old man is being investigated for concealing a corpse, fraud against state damages, impersonation and falsehood in public, according to the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera (h/t PEOPLE). The man disguised himself as his mother, Graziella Dall'Oglio, wearing lipstick, a brown wig, blouse and skirt when he collected the 85-year-old's pension after she died in 2022..
The suspect is a former nurse who is currently unemployed and never reported his mother's death, instead continuing to claim €53,000 ($60,000) of her survivor's pension from her late husband and income from the family's real estate. A registry office clerk in Borgo Virgilio noticed the man's disguise when he came in to renew his mother's identity card and contacted local authorities, which led to an investigation being launched, Borgo Virgilio Mayor Francesco Aporti confirmed to Corriere della Sera.
“She looked very much like the woman in the photo on the ID. But there was something that didn't convince the employee, like the hair on her neck, the heavy makeup, and it looked like beard holes were protruding from the greasepaint,” said Aporti in a translated quote.
“[We] analyzed the video surveillance footage and saw the woman arrive in a car. Alarm bells ringing: the woman doesn't have a driver's license … piece by piece, the picture of this unpleasant situation began to emerge,” he added.
The office clerk called the man back to the registry where he was confronted by the mayor and police officers, at which point he admitted to the disguise. Footage captured at the scene showed the man in full disguise and walking with a cane.
The man agreed to let authorities search his mother's home after his confession, at which point her "mummified body" was found in a room, Aporti confirmed to Corriere della Sera.
"The woman may have died of natural causes, but the autopsy will probably determine that,” Aporti said. “In any case, they had no financial problems … It's a very, very sad story."
An investigation led by the Registry Office of the municipality of Borgo Virgilio is ongoing.