Italian man accused of dressing as dead mother in scam to collect her pension

An Italian man has been accused of disguising himself as his dead mother— complete with wig, lipstick and jewellery — to fraudulently claim her pension, according to domestic media reports.

The unemployed former nurse, who has not been identified, allegedly claimed thousands of euros in pension payments following the death of his mother in 2022, Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera reported.

Italian press dubbed it the Mrs Doubtfire Scandal, after the 1993 film starring the late Robin Williams, in which a father poses as a nanny to spend time with his children after losing custody in a divorce.

The scam was reportedly uncovered when the 56-year-old tried to renew his mother's ID card at the registry office in the town of Borgo Virgilio in northern Italy.

A government employee was suspicious and informed her superiors, who then contacted the police, according to Corriere della Sera.

"He was) wearing a suit with a long skirt, lipstick on his lips, nail polish on his hands, jewellery around his neck and hands, old-fashioned earrings," Francesco Aporti, the town's mayor, told the newspaper.

The man tried to imitate a female voice, "but occasionally a few masculine notes escaped", the mayor said. "The skin on his hands did not seem to be that of an 85-year-old woman."

When the authorities searched the man's house, they found his deceased mother’s mummified body hidden in one of the rooms, the newspaper reported.

"It's a very, very sad story, certainly one of great loneliness," Aporti told Corriere della Sera.