In Italy, a man is accused of hiding his mother's body for three years to continue receiving her pension. He was unmasked after attempting to renew his identity card... disguised as an elderly woman.

In Borgo Virgilio, near Mantua, Italy, a shocking news story has revealed that a 57-year-old man allegedly concealed his mother's death for nearly three years in order to continue collecting her pension. According to Corriere della Sera, the fraud was recently uncovered after an incredible incident that immediately alerted municipal officials.

The suspect's mother, who died of natural causes in 2022, was allegedly left in the family cellar, while her son continued to receive monthly payments from INPS, Italy's main social security and welfare agency, without raising any suspicion. The scheme was uncovered when the former pensioner's identity card expired. To renew it, the man went to the registry office disguised as an elderly woman, complete with a dress and wig, hoping to pass himself off as his mother.

The mummified body of his mother was found at his home

Municipal employees quickly realized the deception and alerted the local police. A search of her home revealed the mummified body of the deceased in the cellar, confirming that her death had never been registered.

The man in his fifties now faces charges of concealing a body and defrauding the National Social Security Institute (INPS). This case, worthy of a Hitchcock film, has deeply affected the community, and investigators are still trying to understand how such a macabre fraud could have gone undetected for so many years.