A 57-year-old Italian nurse managed to receive his deceased mother’s pension for three years, keeping the body hidden and without reporting the death to the authorities. According to the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, the scheme only ended when the man disguised himself as a woman to renew his mother’s identity card, at a time that raised suspicions in public services.
The case dates back to November 11th and originated in the small town of Borgo Virgilio, located in northern Italy.
Moment that denounced the plan
According to the newspaper, the man appeared at city hall dressed like his mother, wearing a wig, makeup, earrings, painted nails and even a pearl necklace to simulate the elderly woman’s appearance. The municipality’s workers found their posture, voice and movements strange, leading to immediate police intervention. The publication writes that, when approached, the suspect showed signs of nervousness and was unable to sustain his representation.
The authorities then went to the nurse’s residence. It was there, in an underground room, that they revealed the scale of the case. The body of the mother, identified as Graziella Dall’Oglio, remained mummified, stored in a basement and apparently preserved through technical knowledge linked to her son’s profession.
Three years of monthly payments
The same source states that, during this period, the man regularly received his pension, the value of which was not disclosed. Without any death registration or official communication to Italian social security, the amounts continued to be deposited into his account month after month. The practice of preserving the corpse avoided smells or suspicions among neighbors, allowing the deception to continue over time.
The strategy failed when it became necessary to renew the mother’s identification document. The disguise, which initially aimed only to prolong access to the pension, became the element that led to his arrest. After several attempts to support the scenario, the police confirmed that the elderly woman had been dead for at least three years and had never been declared dead.
Four crimes and an announced outcome
It also indicates that the suspect was accused of the crimes of hiding a corpse, identity theft, social security fraud and document forgery. The man is now awaiting trial and the case continues to be analyzed by the Italian authorities, who are trying to determine precisely the period in which the payments were received and the total diverted.
The investigation is ongoing, but the episode became an example of how a prolonged scheme can end in a detail, and how an attempt to renew documents led to the discovery of a situation that remained hidden for years.
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