A man accused of killing his mother to make money from life insurance policies he took out had declared bankruptcy after her death, a court has been told.
The WA Supreme Court was told Andre Zachary Rebelo portrayed a life of luxury with his de facto model Grace Piscopo on social media, but prosecutors argued he was in debt trying to fund a “plastic” lifestyle with credit cards. credit and personal loans.
Rebelo is on trial for the murder of his mother Colleen Rebelo, who was found dead in her Bicton home on May 25, 2020. He has pleaded not guilty.
He allegedly took out three life insurance policies against his mother the week before her death and then began the claims process to access the premiums days after her death.
He submitted one of the claims worth $500,000 by submitting falsified documents to expedite payment from the insurer.
The court was told the insurer suspected the claim was fraudulent and reported it to police.
The jury heard Rebelo pleaded guilty to fraud but denied killing his mother.
Rebelo and Piscopo’s financial situation was revealed in court on Tuesday, showing that Rebelo barely had any money in her savings account a month after Rebelo was found dead in her home.
State Attorney Brett Tooker (pictured) told the Washington Supreme Court that Andre Zachary Rebelo stood to gain $1.15 million from life insurance policies he took out against his mother a week before her death.
Washington Police Financial Crimes Team investigator Darren Stammers examined the couple’s financial records over a three-year period, from June 2018 to June 2020.
He told the court Tuesday that the couple had a combined income of about $339,000, mostly earned through Piscopo’s modeling career over three years, but a month after Rebelo’s death the couple had no savings, with a combined debt of $112,000.
The couple had credit cards and personal loans, which increased over the three years, as well as Afterpay and ZipPay accounts which increased their financial burden, Stammers said.
The WA Supreme Court was told Andre Zachary Rebelo and Gracie Piscopo had barely any savings and about $112,000 in debt about a month after Colleen Rebelo was found dead in her home. The former couple appears in the photo together.
Rebelo was being pursued by debt collection agencies, and the couple had defaulted on rent and car payments on a Range Rover eVoque that Piscopo bought with a personal loan in 2018.
Rebelo filed for bankruptcy in March 2022 and was arrested about eight months later, the court said.
Stammers said it was fair to say Rebelo was going through financial difficulties, which were likely exacerbated by Covid.
“Particularly starting in 2019, when he defaulted on his credit cards and personal loans and was subject to recovery actions,” he said.
‘Mr Rebelo’s sources of income, through employment or his own ability, were below the Australian average and were probably insufficient to cover his expenses.
“As a result, he spent more money than he earned and the debts he incurred.”
The financial records of Grace Piscopo and her ex-facto Andre Rebelo, accused of killing her mother Colleen Rebelo to make money from life insurance policies he created against her, were examined by an investigator with the U.S. Financial Crimes Team. WA Police. The former couple appears in the photo together.
Stammers told the court that Piscopo was quite successful in her modeling and social media activities, which generated a significant amount of money over the three-year period.
He said Ms Piscopo spent money as part of her social media profile, bought a car with borrowed money and took out a credit card which she had difficulty paying off.
He told the court the couple also moved into a rental property together at a “quite significant cost” of $880 a week.
‘Although their income was considerably greater than Mr. Rebelo’s, their overheads were at a level where they could neither save nor contribute to debts.
‘I think the coronavirus had a significant impact on her.
‘It is fair to say that they were in a difficult financial situation at various times.
‘Comparing your income and expenses in June 2020, it clearly shows that your expenses were greater than your income.
“His situation deteriorated from December 2019 to June 2020.”
Defense lawyer Anthony Elliott (pictured) told the financial investigator it was not the best indicator to look back at the couple’s finances to determine what their income would be in the future.
Defense lawyer Anthony Elliott argued that looking back at the couple’s financial situation was not the best indicator of the income they would receive in the future.
He said that if he set aside the couple’s credit card and personal loan, they met their financial obligations, but the financial investigator disagreed.
Stammers said they had defaulted on car and rent payments and were delinquent on their credit cards and personal loans.
But Elliott argued that the late rent and car payments were resolved quickly.
He told Mr Stammers it was possible the couple had borrowed money to fund their social media business and told him that to keep their business running at the end of the 2019 financial year they had to come up with some money from somewhere.
Stammers responded that he spent a significant amount on luxury items that he imagined were items for Ms. Piscopo’s social media profile.
“I don’t know exactly the underlying products, but there were a lot of luxury purchases,” Stammers said.
Colleen Rebelo (pictured) was found dead in her home in the Perth suburb of Bicton in May 2020, authorities were unable to determine how the 58-year-old woman died suddenly.
The jury has heard that while Ms. Rebelo’s death was sudden and unexpected, the first responders who were called to her home when she died did not treat her as suspicious.
Medical experts, including Ms Rebelo’s GP Dr Niall Barrett and endocrinologist Timothy Welborn, gave evidence at the trial and told the court Ms Rebelo was healthy when she died.
Both witnesses said it was unlikely that Rebelo died suddenly due to the medical conditions he was suffering from at the time of his death.
Forensic pathologist Dr. Reimar Junkerstorff, who performed the autopsy on her body, was unable to determine Ms. Rebelo’s cause of death, despite ancillary tests.
Dr Junkerstorff told the court he could not rule out that Ms Rebelo died from suffocation or suffocation.
Rebelo’s defense team argued that traces of focal subendocardial interstitial fibrosis found in Ms. Rebelo’s heart meant she could have died of cardiac arrhythmia, causing her to suddenly collapse and die.
The trial continues.