Italy: nicknamed “Berlusconi”, a fake blind man who received 170,000 euros in aid, was surprised by the scooter
He had renewed his driver’s license in 2018. It was a mistake: the financial police denied him and put him under surveillance. An Italian who received financial aid from the state for years due to poor eyesight was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of fraud after he was caught driving, riding a motorbike and window shopping…
This resident of Palermo, Sicily, has received at least 170,000 euros in aid since 2008 after being declared “completely blind” due to a congenital problem. The police, who were watching him, caught him driving while simultaneously typing on his cell phone, staring at window screens as he walked down a crowded shopping arcade and teaching his daughter to ride a bike… as in the photos posted on Twitter by Palermo today.
The site stated that the 40-year-old was riding a motorcycle without insurance, adding that he was nicknamed “Berlusconi”, after the former Italian prime minister involved in court cases. Did he have certificates of consent issued by doctors or did he manage to falsify everything himself? This is the question asked by Virgilio. He suggests it might be a bit of both.
Orchestrated fake accidents
He was known to the police, after he was sentenced in the first instance in 2020 to nearly 15 years in prison for belonging to a network that carried out false traffic accidents to collect the security deposit. This conviction is under appeal.
Although he owns a garage, the suspect also received the monthly “basic income” that is paid in Italy to poorer citizens.
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