A woman who wheeled her lifeless uncle into a bank in the hopes of securing a loan has claimed that she was not aware that he was dead.
Last month, a distressing video was shared online showing 42-year-old Erika de Souza Vieira Nunes standing beside her dead uncle Paulo Braga.
The footage, initially aired by TV Globo, revealed the mom-of-six asking the deceased 68-year-old - who was slumped in a chair - to sign financial documents necessary for her loan application, as per the New York Post.
"Uncle, are you listening? You need to sign [the loan contract], I can’t sign for you," Nunes is heard urging Braga. "Sign so you don’t give me any more headaches, I can’t take it anymore," she adds.
A bank worker pointed out that the man’s color looked off and he seemed “not well,” but Nunes dismissed his concerns. “He is like that. He doesn’t say anything,” she said, adding: “Uncle, do you want to go to the [hospital] again?”
According to the Brazilian outlet Metrópoles, the cause of Braga's death has been listed as "bronchoaspiration and heart failure".
The mom has denied any wrongdoing. Her lawyer, Ana Carla de Souza Correa stated: "The facts did not occur as has been narrated. Paulo was alive when he arrived at the bank," and contended that witnesses could attest to Nunes' innocence.
However, a police chief countered these claims, explaining: "Anyone who sees that can see the person was dead."
Nunes was charged with vilification of a corpse and attempted embezzlement, and remained in prison until Thursday (May 2).
The woman - who is currently under psychiatric treatment - claims that she was not aware that her uncle was dead when she attempted to get him to sign for a loan, telling the Brazilian show Fantastico: "Neither I nor many people noticed...How do you give a paper to a dead person to sign?" according to the Daily Mail.
She also does not "remember much" of what took place on the bizarre visit to the bank, adding: "I don't know if it was the effect of the medicine that day," referring to the sedative she was prescribed by her doctor.
Nunes was released from pre-trial custody as she is not deemed to be a flight risk. She can continue to care for her special needs daughter.
The Rio de Janeiro Civil Police filed a report with the Public Ministry last week claiming that the woman knew her uncle was dead before she took him to the bank.
"She knew this fact (of death), as he is (in the video) with his head down and without any movement, however, right before entering, she holds him by the neck so that he has his head up, simulating a person alive," Civil Police chief Fabio Souza said in his findings, which were obtained by TV Globo.
"There is no doubt that Érika knew about Paulo's death, but, as it was her last chance to withdraw the money from the loan, she entered the bank with the corpse, simulated for several minutes that he was alive, even pretending to give water, took the pen and held his hand close to the hand of Paulo's corpse," Souza added.
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