Man arrested in Greece for hiding father's body in freezer for pension fraud

A 55-year-old man in Greece has been arrested for an elaborate scheme involving hiding his deceased father's body in an industrial freezer for two and a half years. The man allegedly committed this act to continue receiving his father's pension, as well as his mother's pension, for which his father was the beneficiary. The discovery was made at the man's hotel in Mistras, located on the Peloponnese peninsula.

The investigation was prompted by local residents who had not seen the nonagenarian father in public for an extended period. They became concerned, especially knowing he suffered from dementia. When police initially inquired, the son claimed his father was in Athens. However, his sister, residing in the capital, contradicted this, stating she had not seen or spoken to their father in years.

Following the sister's statement, police summoned the 55-year-old to the station. Accompanied by a judicial investigator and a forensic doctor, officers visited his hotel, which also served as his residence. There, in an industrial freezer in the basement, they found the father's preserved body. The man confessed to concealing his father's death, which occurred when he was 90 years old, to maintain the flow of pension payments.

While initial examination of the body revealed no obvious signs of injury, a full autopsy will be conducted after the thawing process to determine the exact cause of death. The arrested man faces charges including false testimony, fraud against the state, and a weapons violation after a compressed air pistol was found at the hotel. Reports indicate the man had fortified the abandoned two-story hotel, installing surveillance cameras and barring access to service technicians.