Brazilian Woman Takes The Corpse of Relative to The Bank to 'Co-Sign' a $3,250 Loan Contract

Police in Brazil say a woman took the corpse of an elderly man in a wheelchair to fraudulently complete a loan approval process to recieve a loan in the amount of R$17,000 ($3,250). The loan had been already approved in her name at the Itaú bank branch in Bangu, in the West Zone, however she needed her uncle's signature for the co-sign.

Érika de Souza Vieira Nunes, who introduced herself as the elderly man's niece, was taken to the police station to give a statement. Samu (Brazilian emergency medical service) was called and found that Paulo Roberto Braga, aged 68, had already been dead for a few hours.

Paulo Roberto Braga, 68, appears to be deceased after being removed from the passenger seat and placed in his wheelchair.Photo byJam Press Vid

Authorities in a suburb of Rio de Janeiro said the woman, 42-year-old Érika de Souza Vieira Nunes, was seen on security camera footage wheeling 68-year-old Paulo Roberto Braga into the bank from a parking structure to try and use his identity to finalize documents in person for the loan, CNN Brazil reported.

A passerby stopped to talk to Nunes after apparently noticing that Braga did not look right.Photo byJam Press Vid

According to police accounts reported by Reuters, Nunes told a bank worker that her uncle wanted to take out a loan for the equivalent of about $3,250.

She was seen in the video holding a pen and moving the man’s hand around with no response from the man.

Nunes was caught on video trying to get her dead uncle to sign a loan at a bank.Photo byNew York Post.com

According to reports, Nunes was witnessed saying, “Uncle are you listening? You need to sign. If you don’t sign it, there’s no way. I can’t sign it for you, Sign so you don’t give me any more headaches, I can’t take it anymore,” she adds while thrusting a pen between his limp fingers; as seen in a video clip first aired by TV Globo; Brazil’s largest broadcaster.

Bank workers became suspicious when the woman began talking into the ear of the pale limp man’s body. Creeped-out employees began recording the exchange.

Nunes later claimed she didn’t know Braga was dead while they were at the bank.Photo byNew York Post.com

His head lolled lifelessly each time his dutiful niece stopped holding it up from behind with her cupped hand.

Nunes stuck a pen in his hand and moved it to make him sign, but he did not comply.

“I don’t think he’s okay,” an employee could be heard saying. “There’s no color in his face.”

Nunes tried to blame his reticence on his personality and said he was just a pale-looking guy.

An autopsy found Braga had died from a heart failure and aspiration of his stomach contents.Photo byJam Press Vid

“He doesn’t say anything, that’s just how he is,” she said, according to Reuters, then told Braga, “If you’re not okay, I’m going to take you to the hospital.”

Ericka de Souza Vieira Nunes is facing charges for bringing a deceased man she calls her “uncle” inside a bank to take out a loan.Photo by@realaustinzone/X

Bank personnel called paramedics and police. Nunes was arrested and her ‘uncle’ was taken to the morgue.

Nunes has been arrested on charges of theft by way of fraud and desecration of a corpse.Photo byJam Press Vid

Braga’s autopsy found that he died between 11:30 am and 2:30 pm local time Tuesday, with his cause of death being determined as respiratory aspiration of stomach contents and heart failure.

Police Chief Fábio Luis said the way the man’s blood had pooled within his vessels suggests that Braga did not die seated but rather lying down.

Nunes faces charges of attempted theft through fraud and vilification of a corpse.

Nunes was adamant as she insisted her uncle had been alive when they entered the bank, however, paramedics said he’d been dead for hours.

“Anyone watching the video can tell he was dead,” lead investigator Fábio Souza told Brazil’s Globonews, according to The Washington Post.

“Can you imagine her? She was touching him. She knew he was dead.”

However, the woman’s lawyer argued that Braga died while at the bank, but police firmly stated the man died before he arrived.

Woman stayed with the dead elderly man in a shopping mall cafe in Rio before taking him to a bank branchPhoto byCNNBrasil.com

Her attorney also claimed that Nunes suffers from mental health issues and might have experienced a mental breakdown.

“Érika undergoes psychological treatment and takes prescribed medications,” lawyer Ana Carla de Souza Correa said.

“I believe she was having a breakdown at that moment because of the medications. She appeared visibly disturbed.”

Registration was made at 34 DP (Bangu)Photo byVanessa Ataliba/Agência O Dia

Although the woman calls the elderly man “Uncle Paulo”, delegate Fábio Souza, head of the 34th DP (Bangu), states that Érika is the cousin of the man, identified as Paulo Roberto Braga, aged 68.

Delegate Fábio Souza, head of the 34th DP (Bangu), who investigates the casePhoto byReproduction/CNN

“She is, in fact, his cousin. She calls herself a niece because she says that her mother’s grandmother registered her mother as a daughter, so she would, in fact, be a niece. But the documents indicate that she is a cousin. Everything indicates that she really was his caretaker, responsible. We did several searches and were unable to find any of his relatives who were close to where he lives”, Souza states.

Suspect for taking a dead elderly man to get a loan from a bank was arrestedPhoto byCNNBrasil.com

The police chief explained that Erika will be charged with attempted theft through fraud and vilification of a corpse. The vilification of a corpse carries a sentence of one to three years and punishes disrespect for a corpse or its ashes.

This applies, for example, to people who take photos of corpses in morgues or during scientific experiments, for example, and display the images. The description of the law does not suggest using a corpse as a means of obtaining a financial advantage, for example. For now, the focus is on finding out the cause of death: if it is found that the reason was not natural, a homicide investigation will be opened.

Image shows woman walking with "Uncle Paulo" before going to the bank to ask for a loanPhoto byCNNBrasil.com

“So, there will be a mix of attempted theft through fraud or attempted embezzlement plus vilification of the corpse, but these are crimes with low penalties and should not keep her in prison”, suggests lawyer Thiago Minagé.

Prosecutor Fábio Vieira, from Rio’s Criminal Public Ministry, argues that regardless of the framing of the conduct, the fact narrated does not change, but that the case could be a so-called “impossible crime”.

“We end up considering this an impossible crime, because the method she uses would never be suitable, because no one would fall for that conversation”, maintains the prosecutor.

Souza was arrested by authorities in Rio de Janeiro after she tried to get her dead uncle, Paulo Braga, to sign a loan documentsPhoto byDailyMail.com

A decree from 1940, which would become a new law in 1984, was incorporated into the Penal Code. It provides that “an attempt is not punished when, due to the absolute ineffectiveness of the means or the absolute impropriety of the object, it is impossible to complete the crime”.

Police sources informed CNN that the woman should be charged with attempted theft by fraud and vilification of a corpse. If convicted, she could be imprisoned for up to 13 years. The police chief himself recognized the difficulty of framing the woman’s conduct.

The family’s lawyer, Ana Carla de Souza Correa, stated that “the facts did not happen as they were narrated, Mr. Paulo arrived at the banking unit alive ” and that “Érika is completely shaken and drugged”.

The holder of the 34th DP still reports that Érika showed no regrets.

“She always said that he was alive, that she always took care of him, but she never showed the sadness of someone who loses someone dear.”

Attributes:

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