A shocking case in Marathon, Attica, has come to light after authorities discovered the body of a 90-year-old woman hidden in the basement of a house, wrapped in plastic bags.
The woman’s daughter and grandson allegedly concealed her death so they could continue collecting her pension payments. The two defendants are due to appear in court on Monday, September 7, facing a misdemeanor charge of jointly concealing a deceased person.
The macabre secret emerged when the woman’s granddaughter tried to obtain her grandmother’s death certificate as she prepared to sell the family home.
Her mother’s refusal to provide the document immediately raised suspicions.
No death certificate at Penteli Registry Office
The granddaughter contacted the Penteli Registry Office and requested an official death certificate for her grandmother.
Officials told her, however, that they had no record of the woman’s death and therefore could not issue a certificate.
Her mother had allegedly claimed that the elderly woman died from cancer at a local nursing home.
As questions about her grandmother’s whereabouts continued to trouble the young woman, her mother repeatedly offered evasive explanations. She eventually filed an official complaint with the authorities.
A police investigation at the property then uncovered the woman’s body in the basement.
Stepfather allegedly revealed pension scheme
A key development came when the granddaughter’s stepfather secretly told her about the alleged scheme some time earlier.
During a telephone conversation, he reportedly told her that her mother and brother continued to collect the grandmother’s pension. He also allegedly said that the family had secretly buried the woman in the yard of the property.
The granddaughter initially dismissed his account as unbelievable and did not act on the information.
Her investigation at the registry office, however, confirmed that no official record of her grandmother’s death existed and intensified her fears about what had happened.
According to the case details, the family had no other means of financial support and depended entirely on the pension payments.
The authorities are now seeking to establish the precise circumstances surrounding the woman’s death, how long the family concealed it and the circumstances in which they continued receiving her pension.
