An Italian man has been accused of a macabre deception, allegedly disguising himself as his deceased mother to fraudulently collect her pension while her body remained concealed in their home.

The 56-year-old man, formerly employed as a nurse and currently unemployed, is from Mantua and reportedly managed to collect thousands of euros before his ruse was uncovered, according to a report by Italy’s Corriere della Sera newspaper.

Authorities believe he concealed the corpse of his mother, Graziella Dall’Oglio, in their family residence, allowing it to mummify over time.

Ms. Dall’Oglio is believed to have died approximately three years ago at the age of 82, the newspaper reported.

Instead of reporting her passing to the authorities, her son allegedly wrapped her remains in a sheet, placed them in a sleeping bag, and kept them hidden within the house.

He then allegedly dressed up as his mother, complete with lipstick, foundation and a pear necklace, before setting out to renew her identity card in a government office in the suburb of Borgo Virgilio.

The son had reportedly cut his hair so it would fall in a similar style to his late mother’s, and wore jewellery to enhance his disguise.

He underwent a ‘Mrs Doubtfire-style transformation,’ the paper said, referring to the 1993 movie starring Robin Williams.

The 56-year-old man, an unemployed nurse from Mantua, managed to claim thousands of euros before his act was exposed, according to Italy ‘s Corriere della Sera newspaper

Graziella Dall’Oglio passed away around three years ago at the age of 82

The man arrived at the government office on the outskirts of Mantua earlier this month where he presented himself as his Ms Dall’Oglio.

But his blatant deception raised the suspicions of one employee, who realised there was something peculiar about the ‘woman’ – including their thick neck and deep voice.

The member of staff quickly reported the incident to police and even alerted the local mayor.

Authorities compared official photographs of the real Ms Dall’Oglio to those of her son and realised they had been duped.

The son had been reeling in an annual income of around £47,000 thanks to his mother’s pension as well as a property portfolio of three houses, as per the paper.

Following his being caught, police went to his home where they stumbled across the gruesome discovery of Ms Dall’Oglio’s deceased body hidden in the laundry room.

‘He came into the council offices wearing a long skirt, he was wearing lipstick and nail varnish, a necklace and old-style earrings,’ Francesco Aporti, the mayor of Borgo Virgilio, told the newspaper.

‘But up close his neck was too thick and his wrinkles were strange, the skin on his hands did not seem to be that of an 85-year-old woman. 

‘His voice was feminine but every so often it dipped and sounded masculine. But I might not have noticed these strange features had they not been pointed out.’

Once his fraud had been uncovered, police informed him that they needed to inspect his home.  

‘He agreed to that. They searched the house and found a mummified body,’ the mayor said. ‘She probably died of natural causes but that will be established by the postmortem. It is a very strange story and very, very sad.’

In a statement, Italy’s military police said the mother’s body was wrapped in bed sheets and a sleeping bag. 

‘The body was in a clear state of mummification.’ they said. The corpse was then taken to the mortuary of a local hospital for a postmortem to be conducted.

The man is being investigated for illegally concealing a body and benefit fraud.