'He's very pale': Woman arrested after taking dead uncle to bank to take out a loan, reports say
A woman brought a man in a wheelchair into a South American bank and attempted to take out a loan in his name – but the man had been dead for hours, police in Brazil said Wednesday.
Érika de Souza Vieira Nunes, 42, was arrested Tuesday following the bizarre incident in Bangu, a neighborhood in western Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro Civil Police reported.
The woman, claimed that the man, identified by police as 68-year-old Paulo Roberto Braga, was her uncle and wanted to sign papers for a $3,250 loan.
Police chief Fábio Souza, who heads The 34th Police Station, said the victim had likely been dead for at least two hours, Brazilian news outlet G1 and CNN Brazil reported.
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Woman told police she routinely cared for her uncle
Bank employees got suspicious and called the police, the outlets reported, and when officers arrived they confirmed Braga was dead.
During an interview with police, the woman told officers she routinely cared for her uncle, who was debilitated. Police said they later confirmed the woman is related to the man.
Police are still investigating the man's cause of death, both outlets reported.
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Video shows woman talking to corpse in wheelchair inside bank
A video, circulating on social media and posted by some news outlets, shows Nunes trying to hold the man's head up using her hand, talking to the reportedly dead man in the wheelchair.
"I don't think this is legal. He doesn't look well. He's very pale," one teller says in the video that captured the scene inside the bank branch.
Nunes responds in footage and says he is "like that" and says "sign so you don't give me any more headaches, I can't take it anymore."
Police detective: 'At first I didn't believe it.'
Police investigator Fabio Luiz told local outlet CBN-Rio the victim had been hospitalized a few days prior to his reported death, and it appears Nunes acted alone.
"As soon as I found out about the case, at first I didn't believe it," the investigator told the outlet. "Until now I'm surprised, as are other colleagues who have called me."
In addition to fraud, the woman is being charged with abuse of a corpse which, CNN Brazil reported.
Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on X @nataliealund.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Brazilian woman arrested after taking dead man into bank to get a loan
