By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2024-11-23 08:16:37 | Updated at 2024-11-23 12:11:35
3 hours ago
A bank treasurer and his wife planned to flee to Uruguay after stealing almost $259,000 from his job, authorities in the southeastern Brazilian state of Espirito Santo have revealed.
Eduardo Oliveira, 43, was accompanied by his wife, Paloma Tolentino, 29, and was seen carrying a box containing the money after he had concluded his November 14 shift at a Banco do Brasil branch in the municipality of Vitoria, surveillance video showed.
Oliveira, who had been employed by the bank for 12 years, could be seen approaching a security guard in the lobby and greeting him before he made his way to the exit.
Investigators discovered that Oliveira and Tolentino plotted the heist in advance and were able to change the bank safe box's password.
The couple loaded up all of their belongings and moved into a new home in Vitória on Saturday, and used some of the cash to pay down some of their personal debts.
On Monday, Tolentino visited a car dealership and attempted to purchased a Jeep Renegade with $12,700 in cash, but was told by a salesperson that they could not process the cash-only transaction.
She told the worker that she had money at a bank branch and visited the financial institution, where Oliveira was already waiting for them.
As part of the plot, Tolentino and Oliveira made believe that they did not know each in order other to process the car purchase.
Brazilian bank worker, Eduardo Oliveira, and his wife, Paloma Tolentino, were arrested Monday, just four days after robbing the Banco do Brasil branch where he was employed. The couple was 153 miles away from the border with Uruguay when they were captured
Eduardo Oliveira carries a box loaded with the cash he stole from a Banco do Brasil branch where he worked at in Vitória, Brazil, as he followed his wife out the door on November 14
The bank became suspicious when Oliveira did not show up to work Monday and did not answer any of their phone calls.
Another manager at the branch notified the police of the robbery after noticing that money was missing from the safe deposit box.
Authorities caught a break in the investigation when they found that Tolentino had deposited $12,700 in an account that was used for the purchase of a brand-new Jeep Renegade on Monday afternoon.
Investigators visited the car dealership and were able to obtain the vehicle's license plates.
Oliveira and his wife loaded their dog and cat into the SUV and drove about 1,367 miles to Santa Cruz, a city in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul.
They were just 153 miles from the border with Uruguay when they were intercepted by the Federal Highway Police.
Footage filmed by the police showed a cop searching the vehicle's trunk and removing a suitcase loaded with 70,700 euros, $41,490 and $131,596 in Brazilian currency.
'The discovery and expertise of the police in identifying that this money was used to buy a car and, quickly realizing that this car was transferred to Eduardo's name, helped a lot in arresting them and recovering the money,' said police officer Gabriel Monteiro, who oversees the Specialized Criminal Investigations Department and of the Specialized Bank Robbery Unit.
Paloma Tolentino (left) and her husband and bank manager, Eduardo Oliveira (right), are facing three charges: receiving stolen goods, continued theft and attempted foreign exchange evasion
Authorities recovered 70,700 euros, $41,490 and $131,596 in Brazilian currency
Authorities were able to return all of the money to the bank and the vehicle to the car dealership.
They also recovered about $3,400 from Oliveira's former wife, who said that the money was part of a divorce settlement.
'At the police station, he reserved the right to remain silent, but with all this evidence there is no doubt that he wanted to flee with the money,' Monteiro said.
'This caused some surprise, as he was an individual who held a high-ranking position at the bank, with a good salary.'
