Woman who took a CORPSE into a bank for ‘loan scam’ is caught on camera transporting the body in a taxi and even getting the unwitting cabbie to help
A woman who took her dead ‘uncle’ to a bank in Brazil for a ‘loan scam’ was seen transporting the body in a taxi and even getting the unwitting cabbie to help her put him into a wheelchair – potentially revealing a crucial detail that could see her jailed.
Érika de Souza Vieira Nunes, 42, was seen in CCTV footage taking a rideshare car with Paulo Roberto Braga to a bank in Bangu, Rio de Janeiro, before attempting to withdraw 17,000 reais (about £2,600) on April 16.
Nunes insists she didn’t know her elderly relative was dead when she took him to the bank – while newly-surfaced footage shows her struggling to get Braga out of the car and into a wheelchair with help from the taxi driver.
The footage was taken in a car park near the bank just after 1pm on Tuesday, revealed as an autopsy suggested he likely died between 11:30am and 2:30pm that day.
But amid a thorough police investigation, one key detail provides new insight into how and when Braga may have died on Tuesday, disputing claims he died in the bank.
Shocking video shared this week showed Souza pushing Roberto Braga, 68, to a bank teller’s desk and attempting to withdraw money on Tuesday, April 16.
Employees at the bank branch became concerned with de Souza’s actions while she tried to get Braga to sign a document and called the police, who arrested her on the scene.
Customers and workers at the bank initially thought Braga was sick, the police chief indicated, before they called for ambulance.
A viral video recorded by a bank staffer showed de Souza holding up Braga’s head and telling him, ‘Uncle, are you listening? You have to sign it. I can’t sign for you.’
Footage showed the woman telling the dead man to grip hold of his pen hard as she placed it between his fingers and encouraged him to sign a piece of paper.
Souza told cops that Braga had died while sitting in the wheelchair at the bank, a claim that police are disputing.
But police chief Fábio Luiz Souza says the way his blood had accumulated within his vessels suggests that Braga did not die seated in the bank but rather lying down.
The police chief previously told Brazilian news outlet G1 that while he could not exactly provide the moment that Braga died, cadaver spots that were visible on the back of his head indicate that he would have been dead for about two hours.
Had Roberto died while he was sitting in the wheelchair, the cadaver patches would have been located on his legs, authorities said.
A postmortem examination has since revealed Braga likely died between 11:30am and 2:30pm that day.
But the forensic pathologist who performed the exam cannot say with certainty if he died en route to the bank in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Braga’s cause of death was given as respiratory aspiration of stomach contents and heart failure.
Results from toxicity tests, to determine if he was drugged, are still pending.
Another newly-surfaced CCTV clip shows how she took her uncle to an emergency care unit on Monday night. Braga was clearly alive at the time.
The rideshare driver has been questioned by the police.
Souza’s lawyer is claiming she has mental health problems and might have been having a breakdown.
Ana Carla de Souza Correa said: ‘Érika undergoes psychological treatment and takes prescribed medications.
‘I believe she was having a breakdown at that moment because of the medications.
‘She appeared visibly disturbed.’
