A 70-year-old Italian man stands accused of pretending to be totally blind for over a century, during which time he collected over one million euros ($1.16 million) in disability payments.
The case of a Vincenza man who unduly received over a million euros in benefits for total blindness over a period of 53 years has once again brought Italy’s verification mechanisms for subsidies and disability payments into the spotlight. The septuagenarian, whose name has not been revealed, had been declared completely blind over five decades ago, following a work-related incident. Since then, he had collected over a million euros, but when the finance police of the Vicenza provincial command conducted cross-checks, something caught their attention, so they decided to follow and video-record him. That’s how they caught him performing gardening work with dangerous tools and carefully checking out produce at the market before buying it.
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The Vicenza officers, in collaboration with their colleagues from the Arzignano company, observed and followed the man for over two months, gathering evidence that he wasn’t blind. During this time, he was filmed moving effortlessly through the city, doing his own shopping, visually inspecting several products, and paying with cash without any assistance. He was subsequently charged at the Vicenza prosecutor’s office for fraud against the Italian state.
Following their investigation, the financial police informed the competent authorities of the immediate suspension of all welfare and social security benefits. It also ordered a tax audit, which resulted in the taxation of over €200,000 in illicit proceeds, equivalent to the income unduly received by the accused over the last five years, the longest period of time for which an assessment was still possible. The Vicenza prosecutor’s office has also ordered the seventy-year-old fake blind man to be indicted for fraud against the state.
