People who falsely claim to be blind or disabled have been charged.

Five people who falsely claimed to be disabled have been discovered in Varese Province, and have been charged with aggravated fraud against the State. The investigation was carried out by revenue officers from Gaggiolo, coordinated by the Public Prosecutor, in Varese. The people concerned immediately saw their undue pensions and benefits stopped; the sums already received, which amount to about €280,000, will have to be repaid.

This is the result of the other investigation on the falsely disabled, the initial results of which were made known in the last few weeks, and of which the Public Prosecutor’s Assistant, Agostino Abate, was in charge.

The woman who falsely claimed to be blind, who had two jobs

The first fraudster discovered by the revenue officers was a woman who, on paper, was 100% disabled, as she was almost completely blind and was unable to be self-sufficient. In the course of the investigation, the officers discovered that she led a normal and absolutely self-sufficient life, and was not affected by the serious, certified disability; she left the house alone, on foot or by bicycle, unaccompanied, and went, completely independently, to work in an office in Busto Arsizio, where, with her false disability, she had requested and been given a “protected” job as a switchboard operator. It was also discovered that the woman is the legal representative of a clinical analysis laboratory, where she is a partner and where she works in administration and has contact with the public. The officers filmed her as she was doing her normal activities at the desk of the analysis laboratory, as she was writing and indicating to the clients where they should sign on the prescriptions, and as she was walking alone to places, hyperactive and perfectly able, even though she received benefits for accompaniment, of about €900 per month.

The other four people that were “unable to move and not self-sufficient”

One man who had falsely claimed to be disabled since 2006 received about €1000 a month, of which about €500 was for accompaniment, because he was “unable to move and not self-sufficient”; in fact, he went around, carrying out the various family duties. He was filmed during the day, alone, as he was driving a car, as he went to the laundry and as he was carrying out a variety of other, normal tasks, and even working in the garden.

It was discovered of a third person, who was 100% unable to work, that he had worked for a long time for a company in nearby Switzerland, as a precision mechanic, and, therefore, in addition to having received over €1300 of invalidity pension, since December 2008, he also received a salary in Switzerland (of about €2500).

The fourth person, who was also 100% unable to work, who, as a result, had been receiving a cheque for total invalidity of about €2000, was found to work regularly, as a warehouseman, in a company in Daverio, near Varese.

The last disabled person was a lady from Saronno, who unduly received an accompaniment benefit of €500 per month, who was filmed as she went around the town, alone, carrying out her errands.

The results of the investigation to date

The work carried out by the revenue officers allowed stopping the pensions and benefits that were being received by the accused people immediately. The sums already unduly received, which amount to about €280,000, will also have to be repaid, and the people will be charged with aggravated fraud against the State.

The investigation, with the collaboration of the social security institute, INPS, is ongoing, and other suspicious positions and the role of the professionals that certified the inexistent disabilities, are being examined. To date, since the beginning of the investigation, a total of 8 falsely disabled people have been discovered and charged, and another 4 people have been found to be involved in the fraud.