Italian man accused of keeping mother's dead body in house for years as he claimed her pension payments

An Italian man has been charged after disguising himself as his dead mother for three years to collect her pension payments.

The man’s mother reportedly died in 2022 at age 82 in the town of Borgo Virgilio, according to local police.

Instead of reporting her death to authorities, the man, who is currently unemployed, continued to pocket her pension payments worth approximately $90,000 annually.

However, when the elderly woman’s identity card expired, the son put on makeup, cut his hair and put on her clothes in order to pose as his mother and renew her card, according to CNN.

Surveillance footage shows the man walking up to a social insurance agency office using a walking stick and wearing one of his mother’s dresses, however despite his efforts, the agent who was processing the man’s application suspected foul play and called police.

Officers drove to the elderly woman’s home address and found her mummified body in the laundry room closet, wrapped in sleeping bags.

Local police said an autopsy has been ordered to determine how the woman died.

The man is accused of concealing a corpse, fraud against the state, impersonation, and forgery of a public document, CNN reports. He has been remanded in custody.