Italian Man Charged with Impersonating Deceased Mother to Collect Pension

Italian authorities have arrested a 57-year-old man who allegedly concealed his mother’s death for nearly two years while continuing to collect her pension, in a case that has stunned residents of the northern Italian town of Borgo Virgilio.

The shocking discovery began when an identity card renewal appointment raised suspicions among municipal staff. The agent processing the renewal for 82-year-old Graziella Dall’Oglio noticed something unusual: dark hair on the back of the neck, hands, and chin of the elderly woman sitting before them.

What appeared to be an ordinary government transaction quickly unraveled into a macabre investigation when authorities determined the “elderly woman” was actually Dall’Oglio’s son, who had dressed in his mother’s clothing, donned a wig, and applied makeup in an elaborate attempt to impersonate her.

Italian identification cards must be renewed in person, forcing the son—whose name has not been released by authorities—to undertake the elaborate disguise. The municipal agent, noticing discrepancies in the person’s appearance, alerted police, who arranged for the individual to return to the office.

“Surveillance footage shows the suspect driving to the appointment dressed as his mother, which immediately raised additional red flags since Dall’Oglio did not possess a driver’s license,” a spokesperson from the Mantua police precinct told reporters on Tuesday.

When officers subsequently visited Dall’Oglio’s home in Borgo Virgilio, near Mantua, they made a grisly discovery. The woman’s mummified remains were found wrapped in sleeping bags and hidden in a closet in the laundry room of the residence.

Investigators believe Dall’Oglio died naturally in 2022, but rather than reporting her death, her son—a former nurse who is currently unemployed—allegedly took extraordinary measures to preserve her remains. Police say he used a syringe to remove bodily fluids from his mother’s corpse to prevent decomposition, suggesting a calculated plan to continue receiving her state benefits.

The man now faces multiple serious charges, including concealing a corpse, fraud against the state, impersonation, and forgery of public documents. He remains in custody in a local jail while prosecutors await autopsy results to determine the exact cause and timing of his mother’s death.

The case, while shocking, highlights a persistent issue in Italy’s social welfare system. State pension fraud is disturbingly common throughout the country, with dozens of arrests made annually for similar schemes involving deceased beneficiaries. The Italian financial crime police, known as the Guardia di Finanza, report that such cases cost the Italian government millions of euros each year.

The disconnect between Italy’s death registries and public service agencies often allows these frauds to continue undetected for extended periods. Without proper synchronization between systems, pension payments frequently continue long after a recipient has died, until someone explicitly notifies the relevant pension office.

This systemic vulnerability has become increasingly problematic in Italy, which has one of Europe’s oldest populations and highest pension expenditures. In recent years, the government has implemented additional verification measures to combat such fraud, but gaps remain in the system.

The case has sparked renewed calls for digitalization and integration of Italy’s civil records systems to prevent similar occurrences. Social welfare experts note that while this particular case involved unusual extremes, the underlying pension fraud represents a common challenge for Italian authorities.

Local residents expressed shock at the discovery, with neighbors reporting they had seen less of the elderly woman in recent years but assumed she was in declining health. The investigation continues as authorities work to determine how long the deception had been ongoing and the total amount of fraudulently obtained benefits.