(Rio de Janeiro) A woman was arrested in Brazil after trying to obtain a loan from a bank in the name of a man she was pushing in a wheelchair after he died, police said Wednesday.
Employees of the bank, located in the popular district of Bangu, in Rio de Janeiro, called the emergency services, “after suspecting that the man was dead”, because he remained inert, explained the Civil Police in a press release.
Once arrived on site, health professionals indeed confirmed the death.
The suspect was arrested in the act of attempted theft with fraud and harm to a corpse. His lawyers deny these accusations.
An investigation is underway to establish the cause and time of death.
According to Brazilian media, the suspect told bank employees that she was the 68-year-old man’s niece and tried to obtain a loan of 17,000 reais (around 3,000 euros) in his name.
“She tried to pretend that he was signing papers,” the commissioner in charge of the investigation, Fabio Luiz, told the G1 news site.
In a video filmed by bank employees and broadcast by local media, he can be heard saying: “Can you hear me? You have to sign, I can’t do it for you.”