Dulmi in her 70s who pretended to be blind for 53 years and pocketed 1.6 billion won in subsidies
Oct 16, 2025
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According to local media Italian News, a man in his 70s living in Vicenza, northern Italy, was diagnosed with 'complete blindness' in an accident during his work in the early 1970s, and has been receiving a disability benefit of 1 million euros (about 1.65 billion won) for 53 years.
Recently, the Vicenza police conducted a two-month undercover investigation, doubting his behavior while conducting cross-verification of recipients of subsidies.
Investigators secured video footage of him using dangerous garden tools to do garden work, pick things up directly from the market and pay in cash. In addition, he walked freely around the city alone and did actions that required visual judgment without any help.
Based on this evidence, the Vicenza Prosecutor's Office charged him with fraud and immediately suspended all welfare and social security benefits. Tax authorities have taken measures to tax 200,000 euros (about 330 million won) that they received unfairly over the past five years.
This was because the maximum period legally applicable retroactively was only five years.
Critics point out that the incident revealed a loophole in Italy's verification process of the disability benefit and welfare system.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
