Page 12 - IAV Digital Magazine #631

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Unemployed Son Dressed As Dead Mother To Collect Her Pension In Astonishing ‘Mrs Doubtfire’ Scam
An
Italian man schemed to disguise himself as his dead mother to claim on her
pension.
The man, an unem- ployed former nurse, dressed up in a 1970s blouse and pearl necklace replete with lipstick, before head- ing to the Registry Office in his town of Borgo Virgilio in north- ern Italy.
He was attempting to renew the identity card of his mother, Graziella Dall'Oglio.
The real Graziella died three years ago, and her son had
been claiming on her pension the entire time, totalling up to the vast sum of nearly €53,000 ($94,000), according to Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera.
It has been dubbed the "Mrs Doubtfire scandal" after the 1993 hit movie star- ring the late Robin Williams.
In a shocking turn of
events,
when the 56-year-old was busted by police and his house was searched, they found his deceased moth- er’s mummified body.
Reports said that Dall'oglio had not been heard from for years.
The scam, which had been bringing
in money for the fraudster for years, was exposed by a particularly sharp employee at the reg- istry office who noticed something
was
off when “Graziella” came in to renew her identification, alerted the mayor and police.
The town's mayor, Francesco Aporti, told 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."
"But that neck, upon closer inspection, was a bit too thick, and even the wrinkles
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Imlbej0bvjk
were strange; the skin on his hands didn't look like the 85-year- old he claimed to be.
"And his voice, femi- nine yes, but occa- sionally a few mascu- line notes escaped."
After photos of the real Graziella and her son were compared, investigators realised they had been duped and that her son had been filing regular tax returns.
Authorities promptly called the son and said Graziella needed to come in to the office to complete the identification process.
Once he arrived, dressed as his moth- er, he was taken down to the police station where he con- fessed to his scheme.
Police found the real Graziella’s body in his home, with a state- ment from Italian police declaring the corpse had been wrapped in bedsheets and a sleeping bag.
The mayor explained: “She probably died of natural causes, but that will be estab- lished by a post- mortem.”
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