Scrounger ‘mum’, 50, FAKED 17 pregnancies over 24 years by stuffing pillows up her top to claim £100k in maternity cash

A SCROUNGER “mum” has been jailed after she faked 17 pregnancies over 24 years so she could pocket almost £100,000 in maternity cash.

Barbara Ioele, 50, falsely claimed to have had five children and 12 miscarriages after stuffing pillows up her top to fake a baby bump.

Ioele, from Rome, also faked her walk to appear to be carrying a child and racked up a considerable amount of time off work.

The woman denies all accusations and continues to claim her five children do exist and that all her pregnancies, including her miscarriages, were genuine.

Ioele claimed to have delivered her latest child in December, but cops said she had been under surveillance for the previous nine months and that the entire pregnancy was a sham.

Prosecutors accuse the woman of committing the alleged fraud by stealing birth certificates from a clinic in Rome and other forged documents, Italian paper reports.

She has reportedly been doing this since 2000, added, and managed to pocket a staggering £94,000 in benefits as a result.

Davide Pizzinato, Ioele’s 55-year-old partner, reportedly informed police during an interrogation that he knew “full well” that she was never pregnant.

He is believed to have testified against her in return for a lesser sentence, despite being accused as her partner in the scam.

“She made the [false] certificates and brought them [to the ASL],” Pizzinato reportedly told investigators.

“This is what is known to me since 2012. That is, since our relationship began.”

Ioele has received a jail sentence of one year and six months.

She did not show up in court for interrogation, Il Mattino reported.

Her lawyer reportedly showed two certificates, not of maternity, which would attest to her state of precarious health.

It comes after a woman was accused of faking a pregnancy to get time off work.

The alarm was first raised when a co-worker claims they noticed Robin Folsom’s “baby bump” fall off.

The 43-year-old had told bosses at US firm Georgia Vocational Rehabilitation Agency (GVRA) she was expecting, and arrangements were made for her to take maternity leave from the £74,000-a-year marketing role.

But a fellow colleague said they noticed Folsom’s bump appear to come away from her stomach, sparking suspicion.

The woman is also said to have “invented” a fake dad for the dubious baby – a man named Bran Otmembebwe.

And after “giving birth,” Folsom sent snaps of the new-born to co-workers – but they appeared to be several different babies, her colleagues said.

Folsom also said she already had another baby – that she gave birth to in July 2020, but investigators couldn’t find any evidence or medical records to prove this.