‘Mrs. Doubtfire’ scandal: How an Italian man dressed up as his dead mother to pocket pension for years

Strange wrinkles, a thick neck, and dark hair on hands and chin… This is what raised suspicion against an aged woman renewing her identity in Italy. Turned out, posing as an octogenarian was a 57-year-old Italian man. He was impersonating his dead mother to pocket her pension.

While the man’s identity has not been revealed, reports point out that he is the son of Graziella Dall’Oglio, who died in 2022 at age 82. The accused, who has now been arrested, was a former nurse and is unemployed. He lives in the town of Borgo Virgilio, close to the city of Mantua.

According to the police, the man did not report his mother’s death to authorities. Her body was found mummified in the house.

The accused is now being investigated for fraud and impersonation in public and for concealing a corpse.

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This case has been dubbed a modern-day “Mr Doubtfire” with parallels being drawn to a 1993 film starring Robin Williams, in which a father poses as a nanny to spend time with his children after he loses custody in a divorce. Here’s how the fraud unfolded.

Dressing up as his dead mother

A 56-year-old impersonated his 85-year-old dead mother, dressing himself up in a blouse and a skirt, lipstick and a short brown wig, according to the report of an Italian newspaper, Corriere della Sera.

He continued to receive €53,000 (Rs 54.79 lakh) of her survivor’s pension from her late husband every year and earned income from the family’s real estate and land.

Over the years, he allegedly claimed millions of euros in pension payments after his mother’s death. Instead of reporting it, he hid her body.

The suspicion that unravelled the case

On November 16, the man in disguise went to renew his mother’s identity card, something that needs to be done in person in Italy. It was then that a registry office clerk in Borgo Virgilio found something amiss. The dark hair on the back of the neck, hands and chin and the voice raised suspicion.

The local council officer immediately alerted the police and informed the Mayor of Borgo Virgilio, Francesco Aporti.

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Authorities then compared an official photo of the woman with images of the man in disguise. Soon after that, an investigation was launched.

The mayor told an Italian publication, “She [the person claiming the pension] looked very much like the woman in the photo on the ID. But there was something that didn’t convince the employee, like the hair on her neck, the heavy makeup, and it looked like beard holes were protruding from the greasepaint.”

“And though the voice was feminine, occasionally a few masculine notes escaped,” the mayor added.

Authorities even examined the video surveillance footage and saw the “woman” arrive in a car. However, records showed that Graziella Dall’Oglio didn’t hold a driver’s licence.

“We analysed the video surveillance footage and saw the woman arrive in a car. Alarm bells ringing: the woman doesn’t have a driver’s licence … piece by piece, the picture of this unpleasant situation began to emerge,” the mayor said.

The confession

To catch the suspect red-handed, the office clerk contacted the suspect and asked him to appear again to complete further formalities.

According to footage acquired by the Italian outlet La Repubblica, the man in disguise can be seen walking with a cane as he heads towards the registry office. He is donning a dark cardigan with a white scarf, a mid-length skirt, short hair and a bag in his hand.

When he showed up, again dressed as his mother, the police immediately confronted and nabbed him. He admitted to the disguise and that Graziella was his mother, Corriere della Sera reported.

Hiding the mother’s body

As the investigation unfolded, officers searching his mother’s house found her mummified body draped in bedsheets and a sleeping bag hidden in the laundry room.

According to police, the woman died of natural causes. “There, they found the ‘mummified body’ of Graziella in a room,” Mayor Aporti told Corriere della Sera. The woman may have died of natural causes, but the autopsy will probably determine that.”

“In any case, they had no financial problems … It’s a very, very sad story,” the mayor concluded.

Pension fraud in Italy

Though shocking, this is not an isolated case.

In 2023, the body of 81-year-old Bruno Delnegro, who reportedly died of natural causes, was traced to a cave in Abruzzo. Italian media reported that instead of reporting their father’s death, his sons, Benito, Domenico, and Salvatore, and the girlfriend of one of the men, placed his body in a sleeping bag.

They transported it to the Abruzzo hamlet of Castrovalva to leave it there while they claimed his €3,000-a-month pension (Rs 3.1 lakh). The three sons and the girlfriend were investigated for several offences, including fraud against the pension authority and the unlawful use of an ATM card, the report noted.

Dozens are arrested every year for impersonating a dead relative to benefit from their pension, CNN reports, quoting statistics from the Italian financial crime police, known as the Guardia di Finanza.

With inputs from agencies