An Italian who has received state financial aid for years for low vision was arrested on Wednesday on suspicion of fraud after being caught driving, scooter and window shopping, the officials said. media.
The resident of Palermo in Sicily has received a total of at least 170,000 euros ($ 250,000 Canadian) in aid since 2008 after claiming to be “totally blind” due to a congenital problem.
The Italian financial police were alerted after the fake visually impaired person renewed his driving license in 2018, according to press reports.
Police watching him caught him driving while simultaneously tapping his cell phone, gazing at shop windows while walking through a busy shopping arcade, and teaching his daughter to ride a bicycle.
The 40-year-old also rode a scooter without insurance, Palermo Today reported, adding that he had been nicknamed “Berlusconi” after the name of the former Italian prime minister entangled in court cases.
He was known to the police, having been sentenced in 2020 at first instance to a prison sentence of nearly 15 years for belonging to a network which staged false traffic accidents to collect the amount of insurance.
This conviction is under appeal.
Although he owned a garage, the suspect also received the monthly “basic income” paid in Italy to the poorest citizens.