Maid and two psychiatrists convicted over marriage to elderly millionaire

This Monday, the Bragança court sentenced a clerk to a suspended sentence and two psychiatrists to fines in the case of the marriage and will of an elderly man with a fortune estimated at two million euros.

The defendant, 59, was sentenced to two years and eight months, suspended for the same period, for kidnapping, for taking an elderly man away from his home despite instructions to the contrary from his daughter, who was appointed guardian. as well as payment of 840 euros, which corresponds to a 70-day fine, for using a false certificate.

For false medical certificates and false declarations, doctors aged 74 and 73 must pay 8,000 and 6,000 euros respectively, as well as 200 and 120 days of fine.

Also in the dock were a psychologist and a registry office employee, who were acquitted because it was not proven that they acted intentionally.

The case began on May 4, 2017, when the employee married her 101-year-old boss at the registry office of Ribeira de Penha, Vila Real, more than 150 kilometers from the village of Parada, Bragança, where they lived.

A few days after the wedding, on May 10, 2017, they traveled to Vieira do Minho, Braga, to draw up a will that named an employee as a beneficiary.

Two months later, the elderly man died, and his fortune, according to court estimates, was about two million euros.

The marriage and will have already been annulled by the court; it has been proven that the elderly man suffers from dementia. The facts that made it possible to carry them out have now been submitted to the court.

Reading out the resolution, the chairman of the group said that the case was “much factual and very rich” and that it was “not particularly simple from a legal point of view,” but expressed the conviction that the story was “very complex.” “, as the “leading actress” there was a maid.

The indictment of the prosecutor’s office (MP), to which Lusa had access, states that the employee, who had worked for the family for more than 30 years, paying attention to the age and property of her boss, “formulated a plan with the aim of marriage (…) and forcing this person make a will in her favor in order to become his heir (…).” She had been caring for elderly people since at least 2010, the court was told.

The deputy realized that the doctors who prepared conclusions and made statements about the mental abilities of the elderly man at the time of the events in 2017 did not tell the truth.

The elderly man was considered by the defendants to be capable of making decisions about his person, property and assets, although he had been out of office since at least October 2011, according to the indictment.

Minor changes were made to the crimes and false statements, which moved from direct intent to probable intent. The main defendant was also responsible for two other kidnapping crimes, of which she was acquitted.

The team said that the employee “observed weakness day after day [do idoso]he must have known that he no longer had control over his identity and assets.”

As for psychiatrists, the court noted that “we are talking about two experts who were called to perform a specific action because they had such a “specialization.” [competência]”, but they didn’t do enough work.

The court also ordered the production of two certificates to determine the possible intervention of two lawyers who could somehow help the main accused.

At the end of the hearing, the elderly man’s family and the prosecution’s lawyer said that “overall the decision was as expected” but said they would still consider a possible appeal.

The lawyer refused to testify.

The family also demanded compensation of 1,000 euros for material damage and about 120 thousand euros for non-material damage, which were found to be unfounded.

There is another criminal case against a former employee in the Braganza court, brought by the boss’s family.