For More Than Five Decades, A 70-Year-Old Italian Faked Total Blindness To Receive Disability Pension
An unusual case attracted attention in Italy. A 70-year-old man, a resident of the city of Vicenza, is accused of faking total blindness for over half a century to receive disability benefits.
Over 53 years, he illegally obtained more than € 1 million in social payments.
Investigation and Video Evidence
The farce began to crumble when the financial police of Vicenza conducted data cross-checks that raised suspicions. From that point, officers decided to follow the suspect and caught him engaging in activities inconsistent with his supposed condition.
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During more than two months of surveillance, officers filmed him performing gardening tasks with dangerous tools, walking effortlessly around the city, doing shopping, and inspecting products attentively before purchasing them.
Additionally, the man was seen paying in cash without assistance and interacting normally with his surroundings. The evidence was deemed sufficient to dismantle the fraud and support the charges.
Legal and Financial Consequences
The Public Prosecutor’s Office of Vicenza indicted the accused for fraud against the Italian state. Based on the gathered evidence, the authorities immediately suspended all social and pension benefits he was receiving.
The investigation also led to a tax audit, which determined taxation on over € 200,000 in illicit revenues from the last five years—the maximum period during which charging was still legally possible. The case reignited debates about the effectiveness of verification mechanisms for disability benefits in Italy.

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