The dead Brazilian man wheeled into a bank by his niece in a bizarre plot to get her a bank loan was malnourished when he died and may have been poisoned, according to reports.
The cause of death for Paulo Roberto Braga, 68, has initially been listed as broncho-aspiration and heart failure, according to an autopsy report obtained by Metrópoles, which noted that he showed signs of malnourishment.
An emergency care doctor who saw him suspected he had been poisoned, with the body sent for toxicological testing on a blood sample from his stomach, according to the report.
Braga was determined to have died sometime on Tuesday, April 16, several hours before his niece Erika de Souza Vieira Nunes, 42, wheeled his corpse into a bank and moved his hand to sign for a $3,250 loan.
The elderly man had a history of health issues and was “in need of special care” at the time of his death, Métropoles added.
He had been admitted to an emergency care unit at least once in the last week, where he was diagnosed with pneumonia and tachycardia, the outlet reported. He was also dependent on oxygen and had trouble swallowing.
His niece is facing charges of theft by way of fraud and desecration of a corpse, though her attorney claimed that her actions may have been informed by mental health issues.
Her arrest went viral when video emerged of her with his corpse as she pretended he was alive and able to sign approval for her loan.
“Uncle, are you listening? You need to sign [the loan contract]. If you don’t sign, there’s no way, because I can’t sign for you,” Nunes could be heard telling the body in the shocking footage.
“Sign so you don’t give me any more headaches, I can’t take it anymore,” she complained.
Bank staffers were put off by the man’s sickly colour and called the police. It was later determined that Braga had actually been dead for several hours.
Troubling footage then emerged that showed Nunes arriving at the bank in a taxi, with the driver even helping her move Braga’s body from the car into the wheelchair.
A video taken the day before the incident also showed Nunes bringing Braga – then visibly still alive – to the emergency room.