RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Civil Police is investigating a woman who took a dead elderly man in a wheelchair to a bank branch in the central region of Campinas (São Paulo) to prove he was alive so he could collect his pension.
The case occurred at a Banco do Brasil branch on October 2nd and was uncovered after the woman, in an attempt to expedite service, said that her purported partner, a 92-year-old man, was feeling unwell. As a result, the Fire Department was called in and found not only that he was already dead, but that the death had occurred some time before.
According to the department, given the “rigor mortis”, it was suspected that the elderly man had been dead for at least 12 hours.
When the team found this situation, it notified the Municipal Police, which was close to the branch, which in turn triggered the State Police, who led the woman to the 1st Police District to register the criminal action. The body was buried the next day.
The director of the São Paulo Interior Judiciary Police Department (DEINTER 2), José Henrique Ventura announced on Thursday, October 15th, that the autopsy report stated that the elderly man, a retired clerk and widower, had been dead for 12 hours when he was taken to the branch.
“She claims she had been his partner for some years, but had no power of attorney to handle or operate his account. With the autopsy report, we will open an inquiry for larceny. Earlier, it was a death to be clarified. Now we will try to understand what her intention was, what she would do with him and the money,” Ventura explains.
In a note, the São Paulo Secretariat of Public Safety (SSP) announced that “the efforts are proceeding to enlighten the facts.”
Also in a note, Banco do Brasil reported that “it complied with all protocols provided for in the service agreement with the paying source (INSS), which includes the requirement for a power of attorney or the beneficiary’s presence in the branch.”
Source: G1