In a bizarre and audacious incident reminiscent of dark comedy films, a Brazilian woman was arrested for attempting to secure a bank loan using the corpse of her purported uncle. This unsettling scenario unfolded earlier this week at a bank in Rio de Janeiro, where Erika de Souza Vieira Nunes was caught on security cameras engaging in a grim charade.
According to local authorities, Nunes, 42, wheeled the body of 68-year-old Paulo Roberto Braga into the bank on Tuesday, April 16, 2024, propping him up in a wheelchair in a grotesque effort to have him “sign” a loan document. Bank employees quickly grew suspicious as Braga appeared pale and unresponsive, with his head lolling uncontrollably.
“The entire scene was surreal. One minute, she was trying to hold his head up, and the next, she was asking him if he could hear her,” recounted one bank employee, who initially thought Braga might have been severely ill.
Nunes’s attempts to navigate the bank’s paperwork with Braga’s hand were futile. Security footage showed her manipulating his limp hand to make him sign the documents—a visual that bank staff found deeply disturbing.
“When paramedics were called, they could immediately tell he had been dead for hours,” said another employee. Indeed, subsequent medical examinations confirmed that Braga had likely died elsewhere, as his physical state suggested that he had been deceased long before arriving at the bank.
“Any observer of the video could see that he had passed away,” stated Fábio Souza, the chief investigator, during an interview with the local media. ”Imagine her situation; she was handling him. She was aware that he was deceased.”
This shocking case has led to charges against Nunes, including theft by fraud, embezzlement, and abuse of a corpse. Police are investigating whether other family members were involved or had knowledge of Nunes’ plan, and they are also seeking to determine the exact cause of Braga’s death.
The lawyer representing Nunes has claimed that Braga was alive when they entered the bank, a statement at odds with the medical evidence. The police investigation is ongoing, and further forensic analysis is expected to shed light on the sequence of events leading up to the incident.
