Woman Wheeled Dead Uncle Into Bank to Sign Off on Loan

A woman has been arrested after she carted her dead ‘uncle’ into a bank and tried to get him to sign off on a £2,500 loan.

The man, identified as Paulo Roberto Braga, 68, did not of course sign any paperwork as he was dead when he entered the branch in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, according to police.

Employees at the branch were suspicious of the actions of the woman, Érika de Souza Vieira Nunes, who said she was the corpse’s niece, and called the authorities after challenging her on the state of the man.

Police are now investigating whether she was even related to the elderly gentleman, who had been dead for a few hours when he entered the building, according to authorities.

“She tried to pretend that he signed it. He already entered the bank dead,” explained police chief Fábio Luiz.

The woman claimed at the police station that she often looked after the man.

A video, taken by bank attendants, shows that she was constantly trying to keep the man’s head straight, using her hand and talking to the supposed relative – who did not respond.

“Uncle, are you listening? You need to sign. If you don’t sign it, there’s no way. I can’t sign for you, I’ll do what I can do”, says the woman.

She adds: “Sign so you don’t give me any more headaches, I can’t take it anymore.”

At that moment, the employees try to intervene and one of them comments on the man’s paleness, saying: “He’s not well, no. His colour isn’t right.”

“But that’s just how he is,” replies the supposed niece, adding: “He doesn’t say anything, that’s just how he is. Uncle, do you want to go to UPA (health centre) again?” she asks, always without an answer.

Reports in Brazil state that she will charged with theft through fraud and vilification of a corpse.

Police also want to understand whether other people helped her commit the alleged crimes and are looking for security footage.

The elderly man’s body was taken to the Legal Medical Institute.

“The main thing is: we continue the investigation, so we can identify other family members, and find out if he was alive when this loan was made, what is the date of this loan,” police said.