An Italian man allegedly dressed up as his dead mother to claim her pension in a case dubbed the “Mrs Doubtfire” scandal. The unemployed nurse is accused of claiming the widow’s pension of Graziella Dall’Oglio, who local media said died three years ago at the age of 85.

In a grim detail, the man allegedly failed to report the death of his mother, whose body was reportedly found mummified in his home. Italian media reports that he wrapped her body in a sheet, shoved it into a sleeping bag and concealed it in his house.

Corriere della Sera reported that he underwent a transformation similar to that of Mrs Doubtfire in the famous film starring Robin Williams.

He is reported to have styled his hair in a way similar to his mum, used foundation, wore lipstick, donned a pearl necklace, clip earrings and a patterned blouse in a bid to pass himself off as his parent.

But a clerk at a local registry office suspected something was up when the man turned up to renew his mother’s identity card.

His “masculine” skin apparently gave him away. The employee told her superiors who contacted the police.

Doubts grew when officials compared her ID card from 10 years ago with a photo of the man posing as his mum taken two weeks ago.

Francesco Aporti, Mayor of Borgo Virgilio, told Corriere della Sera: “He came into the council offices wearing a long skirt, he was wearing lipstick and nail varnish, a necklace and old-style earrings.

“But up close his neck was too thick and his wrinkles were strange, the skin on his hands did not seem to be that of an 85-year-old woman.

“His voice was feminine but every so often it dipped and sounded masculine. But I might not have noticed these strange features had they not been pointed out.”

Mr Aporti said the man agreed to a police search of his house, where officers found the mummified body. He added Ms Dall’Oglio probably died of natural causes, but a post-mortem would confirm how she died.

The mayor said: “It is a very strange story and very, very sad.”

Authorities are investigating the man for illegally concealing a body and benefit fraud.