A Turkish man managed to get the pension of his mother for two years after her death, posing as an elderly woman to the local bank and neighbours, the mass-circulation Sabah newspaper reported on Saturday.
Disguised in his mother’s coat, with a headscarf on his head and large glasses over his nose, 47-year-old Serafettin Gencel was caught only after he forgot to change his voice in response to a question by a bank clerk in his latest attempt to withdraw his mother’s pension.
Gencel hid the woman’s death in 2003 from relatives and neighbours, and buried her in the basement of their house in the north-western city of Balikesir, Sabah said.
He used to take walks in the neighbourhood disguised as his mother so that her absence did not draw attention.
The man has a long criminal record, including robbery, theft and possession of an unlicensed weapon. — AFP