Man Dresses as His Dead Mother in “Mrs. Doubtfire-”Style Scheme to Collect $60,000 Pension, 3 Years After Her Death

An Italian man is being investigated after he dressed up as his deceased mother in a pension scam.

The 56-year-old man disguised himself as his mother, 85-year-old Graziella Dall'Oglio, in a blouse and skirt, lipstick and a short brown wig in a Mrs. Doubtfire-style scheme to collect his mother’s pension after she died in 2022, the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera reported.

The unidentified man was a former nurse and is currently unemployed. He never reported his mother’s death and continued to claim €53,000 ($60,000) of her survivor's pension from her late husband and income from the family's real estate and land, according to the outlet.

On Nov. 16, a registry office clerk in Borgo Virgilio, about two hours east of Milan, noticed the man’s disguise after he came in to renew his mother’s identity card. They contacted Borgo Virgilio Mayor Francesco Aporti and the police and an investigation was launched, Aporti told Corriere della Sera.

“She 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,” said Aporti.

“[We] analyzed the video surveillance footage and saw the woman arrive in a car. Alarm bells ringing: the woman doesn't have a driver's license …  piece by piece, the picture of this unpleasant situation began to emerge,” he said.

The office clerk called the man back to the registry office, where the mayor and police officers confronted him and he admitted to the disguise and that Graziella was his mother, per Corriere della Sera.

In footage obtained by the Italian outlet La Repubblica, the man is seen walking in disguise with a cane as he heads to the registry office. He is wearing a dark cardigan with a white scarf and a mid-length skirt with short brown hair, while holding a bag.

After confessing to his disguise, the man agreed with the authorities to search his mother’s home. There, they found the “mummified body” of Graziella in a room, Aporti told Corriere della Sera.

"The woman may have died of natural causes, but the autopsy will probably determine that,” said Aporti. “In any case, they had no financial problems … It's a very, very sad story."

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The man is being investigated for concealing a corpse, fraud against state damages, impersonation and falsehood in public, per La Repubblica.

The Registry Office of the municipality of Borgo Virgilio (ROBV) is reportedly handling the investigation.

PEOPLE has reached out to ROBV for comment.