A lady, Erika de Souza, who went viral for wheeling the dead body of her uncle to a bank in Brazil is to face attempted theft by fraud and vilification of a corpse charges, according to authorities.
It would be recalled that Erika de Souza became an international sensation after a video of her pushing her dead uncle into a bank to cash money gained traction across the globe.
A fresh clip obtained from a CCTV has also surfaced showing Erika pushing a gaunt wheelchair-bound man around, just one day before she wheeled his corpse into a bank.
The footage captured in Rio de Janeiro on April 15 outside a door of the Emergency Care Unit in Bangu showed 68-year-old Roberto Braga alive and being pushed by Erika de Souza.
He could be seen moving his head and waving his arm, as 42-year-old Souza struggled to push the elderly man towards the door.
At one point in the video, a man in a black t-shirt was seen approaching the pair and speaking to Braga before Souza intervened and begun to re-adjust his wheelchair.
In the end, she successfully pushed the elderly man inside the door while he rested his head on the chair.
CCTV footage that was reportedly captured in Rio de Janeiro on April 15 outside a door of the Emergency Care Unit in Bangu showed 68-year-old Braga alive as he was being wheeled by Souza
According to Brazilian publication Revista Forum, Braga entered medical care on April 8 and was discharged on the same day the CCTV footage was recorded.
Despite being discharged from the hospital alive and well, Souza was seen pushing Braga’s corpse to a bank teller’s desk and attempting to withdraw 17,000 reais (about $3,200) a day later.
Employees at the bank branch became concerned with de Souza’s actions while she tried to get a lifeless Braga to sign a document and called the police, who arrested her on the scene.
Rio de Janeiro Civil Police chief Fábio Souza told Brazilian news outlet G1 on Wednesday that while he could not exactly provide the moment that Braga died, cadaver spots that were visible on the back of his head indicate that he would have been dead for about two hours.
Had Braga died while he was sitting in the wheelchair, the cadaver patches would have been located on his legs, authorities said.
‘It is not possible to say the exact moment of death,’ Fábio said. ‘It was found by Samu (Mobile Emergency Attendance Service) that there was (livor mortis). This only happens from the moment of death, but is only noticeable around two hours after death.’
Fábio said that agents were deployed to search for the rideshare app driver who dropped off Souza with her dead uncle at the bank.
The accused, who is facing attempted theft by fraud and vilification of a corpse charges, was interviewed Wednesday morning by authorities.
She told cops that Braga had died while sitting in the wheelchair at the bank, a claim that police are disputing.
‘In my 22-year career I have never seen a story like this,’ Fábio said.
Customers and workers at the bank initially thought Braga was sick, the police chief indicated, before they called for ambulance.
A viral video recorded by a bank staffer showed de Souza holding up Braga’s head and telling him, ‘Uncle, are you listening? You have to sign it. I can’t sign for you.’
Bank employees started filming the pair and ended up calling for an ambulance and police while Érika de Souza used her hand to keep Paulo Braga’s head upright and told him: ‘Uncle, are you listening? You have to sign it. I can’t sign for you’
One of the bank workers then told de Souza: ‘I don’t think this is legal. He doesn’t look well. He’s very pale.’
‘He’s like that,’ she replied and told her dead uncle, ‘If you’re not well, I can take you to hospital. Do you want to go back to hospital again?’
De Souza then told Braga, ‘Sign so you don’t give me any more headaches, I can’t take it anymore.’
‘She calls herself his niece. In fact, she has a degree of kinship, according to our research,’ he said. ‘And she calls herself his caretaker. We want to identify other family members,’ Fábio said.
