A 37-year-old womanwas denounced by the Public Ministry of Santa Catarina this Tuesday (9) for fraud and false identity. According to the criminal action filed by the 9th Public Prosecutor’s Office, the accused would have created a fictional character to obtain benefits over more than one year.
She would have pretended to be an 11-year-old child and simulated vulnerable situations to obtain benefits such as housing, food, transportation, birthday celebrations and even high-cost weight loss medicationspaid by a family for 14 months, between February 2025 and June 2026.
The accused would have created the fictitious identity of “Gabriele Ferreira dos Santos”, pretending to be a childso that she was welcomed by the victims, who began to support her To convince the family, the defendant would have said that she had suffered abuse and serious situationssuch as alleged ill-treatment by family members and exploitation.
To give credibility to the story, she would have adopted behaviors compatible with the fictitious identity, such as childish speech, use of typical childhood objects and simulation of emotional crises. She still claimed to have autism and other clinical conditions. To justify her physical appearance as an adult, she argued that his features were the result of forced use of hormones during childhood.
Prosecutor Viviane Soares, responsible for the case, highlighted the seriousness of the conduct attributed to the accused. “The elements collected indicate an elaborate fraud scheme, with the creation of a fictitious identity and the emotional manipulation of victims to obtain undue advantageswhich demands due criminal liability.”
Mental insanity
A court decision determined the establishment of a mental insanity incident to assess the psychological condition of the accused, arrested in the act on suspicion of embezzlement and false identity. The measure meets the defense’s request and provides for the carrying out an examination to verify the capacity of the person being investigated to answer for their own actions.
The establishment of the mental insanity incident appears as a parallel stage in the process. If it is found that the defendant did not have full capacity for understanding or self-determination at the time of the events, and the result may directly influence the criminal actionincluding the possibility of applying a security measure instead of a custodial sentence. Pending the examination and report, the process will be suspended.
According to the arrest report, the accused would also have committed the crimes in other cities and states. According to the police investigation, she had adopted similar behavior in Porto Alegre, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais, Goiás and, in Santa Catarina, Florianópolis and Chapecó. In the city in the west of Santa Catarina, she is already facing criminal action for similar facts.
