He claimed to be disabled for years and deceived Pope Francisco: the video on fraud

Roberto Guglielmi, a man who simulated paraplegia for the purpose of receiving state payments in Italy, was brought to light by the police after 12 years of lies.

According to the Repubblica newspaper, the local police broadcast a video showing the man, 55, who walked without any disabilities, for which he had been arrested.

With this lie, Roberto Guglielmi came to swindle Pope Francisco, who in 2015 received him in an audience for his life story.

To defraud everyone, including doctors, the Italian injected anesthetics that reduced the muscle sensitivity of the lower limbs, which allowed him to endure the painful treatments to which he was subjected.

Modus operandi

According to the newspaper, the Italian swindle began in 2007 with a fake car accident. A neighbor had helped simulate a car accident in Florence, his hometown.

Through a falsified medical history, the man began to pretend that he was a paraplegic, helping all the doctors needed to attest to the disability, but also deceiving his friends and acquaintances.

In 2014, he wrote to Francisco, who called him on the phone and the following year, summoned him to a hearing.

On April 9, the fraudster was unmasked when he returned to Florence after a holiday in Togo. We saw him go down alone on the stairs of the plane.

It is in this context that the authorities opened an investigation and confirmed their suspicions through a series of recordings recorded by security cameras.

The alleged disability allowed her to pay twelve years of work for her condition and to take advantage of parking spaces reserved for disabled persons.