Dead man wheeled into bank by his niece in bizarre loan scam may have been POISONED as cops launch probe
A MAN whose lifeless body was wheeled into a bank by his niece in a bid to take out loan may have been poisoned.
Paulo Braga, 68, died on Tuesday in Rio de Janeiro as chilling footage shows his niece dragging him from the taxi into a wheelchair.
An autopsy has revealed that Braga was malnourished and his death was likely caused by “bronchoaspirartion and heart failure”.
The coroner’s office is probing if the man was poisoned as they await the results of an additional test.
The report stated: “Such data corroborates the necroscopic finding of malnutrition and bronchoaspiration.
“The previous heart disease found also contributed to the death event.”
On Tuesday, Braga’s niece, Erika de Souza, was arrested for trying to take out a loan for £2,600 after she was seen wheeling him into the bank.
The CCTV shows Erika, 42, struggling to haul her uncle’s corpse from the passenger seat onto the wheelchair before heading into the building.
At the bank counter, she then pretends to have a conversation with Braga in front of horrified staff as she holds his neck upright.
Braga’s head could be seen swaying back and forth with his eyes closed and his mouth frozen open throughout the eerie ordeal.
Erika asks him to sign off a four-figure loan and at one point even tells him to “stop giving her a headache”.
But workers at the bank quickly picked up on the sick situation.
One employee said: “I don’t think this is legal. He doesn’t look well. He’s very pale.”
Erika snapped back: “He’s like that,” before asking her uncle if he was feeling unwell and wanted to go to the hospital.
When her questions were met with silence, workers at the bank grew suspicious and started filming the incident before calling an ambulance.
Paramedics soon confirmed that Paulo Roberto Braga had passed away before Erika took him into the bank.
She insisted she was unaware Braga was dead when she went to the bank on Tuesday afternoon.
But the medical examination revealed that he passed between 11.30am and 2.30pm that day.
Other footage showed Erika wheeling him around in a chair the day before.
It is not known what his condition was at the time.
Erika told investigators that Braga was discharged from a medical facility on Monday and told her he needed a loan for television and repair costs around the house.
She had picked him up from his home on Tuesday and noticed that he was weak.
A motorcycle taxi driver was called to assist her get Braga out of the house at 12.20pm and told the cops that he was still alive at that time.
“When I entered the house, Paulo was lying in bed,” he said.
“I took Paulo by the arms, with Erika’s help, and took him into the car. I was able to see that he was still breathing and had strength in his hands.”
Another driver – who drove the pair to the mall – told police that he spent seven minutes with Braga alone in the car while Erika searched for a wheelchair.
The driver reported that Braga held the door himself when he was being helped out of the car.
The security footage shows Erika pushing her uncle around the mall and parking mall before reaching the bank.
The forensic pathologist couldn’t confirm whether he died on the way to the bank or earlier on.
Police chief Fabio Luiz said: “The investigation is continuing to identify other family members and to find out if he was alive when the loan was arranged and when it dates from.”
Erika has been accused of attempted theft by way of fraud and desecration of a corpse.
