Shopping security camera images show businessman taking items from an on -site architectural office
Businessman João Ricardo Rangel Mendes, 44, was arrested and charged in the act on Friday (25.br.2025) for stealing works of art in a luxury mall in Barra da Tijuca, in the west of Rio. João Ricardo is former CEA da Hurb, former Hotel Urbano.
According to the Civil Police of the 16th DP (Barra da Tijuca), the mall’s direction sought the corporation after analyzing the security cameras and splashing a man stealing artwork from the architecture office. In the images, João Ricardo was identified.
After stealing the pieces, he fled the scene. Sculptures and paintings are valued at about R $ 23,000, according to the Rio Civil Police
The police went to the businessman’s house, who tried to escape when he noticed the arrival of the agents, but was eventually arrested on the terrace of the apartment in which he lives.
3 ceramic sculptures and 1 of the stolen paintings of the architectural office at his residence were found. The 2nd table taken by him has not yet been recovered, according to the Civil Police. The agents seized the motorcycle used by him in the theft, which was without a license plate.
“All material has been returned to the legitimate owners and agents of the 16th DP follow in due diligence to locate the last work of art. The man was filed in the act for the crime of theft”, informed the Rio Civil Police.
João Ricardo was transferred to the public jail José Frederico Marques in Benfica, in the north of Rio. The former CEO will undergo a custody hearing.
João Ricardo Rangel Mendes was in office as CEO of HURB until 2023. At the time, the company began to of hotels around Brazil and accumulating complaints from customers who could not travel or stayed on the platform and found hotels in bad situations when they reached destinations. HURB faces thousands of lawsuits in court, which represents almost $ 4 million in compensation.
The former CEA resigned after the release of videos in which he in a group of company employees on WhatsApp.
At the time, he acknowledged having made mistakes and said he was “embarrassed”. He recalled the dedication to the company since its inception in 2011. “These recent events, in fact, were errors of ‘João Ricardo Mendes’ and not of an entire company that is much larger than me.”
