At the age of 15, in 1986, Ana Lucia Umbelina Galache de Souza, now 55, came up with a script-worthy plan with the help of his grandmother : change name to Ana Lucia Zarate and pretend to be the daughter of a former Brazilian Expeditionary Force (FEB) combatant to receive a special pension .
THE coup lasted 33 years . This is because, after the death of the former combatant, in 1988, Ana Lucia began to receive a pension that on average was R$8,000 per month. But over the years, reached an accumulated amount of R$ 3,723,344.07 .
The farce was going well for the duo until the elderly woman, dissatisfied with what she received, decided to hand the case over to the Civil Police and the Army, in 2021, for not receiving what had been agreed.
According to documents obtained by CNN the grandmother recorded the incident revealing that Ana Lucia, in fact, was not the daughter, but the great-niece of the former combatant and that she would not be entitled to the benefit reserved for spouses or direct descendants of deceased soldiers.
Two years later, in 2023, the Military Court sentenced Ana Lucia to three years in prison and ordered the return of the amounts received.
Judge Luciano Coca Gonçalves highlighted that Ana Lúcia had knowledge and intention of carrying out the fraud, which lasted decades.
“The defendant continued to unduly receive the special pension for more than three decades and, despite being urged by her husband to stop the illicit act, she continued to deceive the Military Administration and receive the benefit, which reveals the greater intensity of the fraud”, stated in the decision.
Pensioner seeks acquittal and claims absence of intent
Ana Lucia, who is represented by the Federal Public Defender’s Office, appealed the conviction claiming that there was no intent.
The case awaits judgment at the Superior Military Court (STM), where, so far, two ministers have voted to maintain the conviction. The final decision, however, is pending while minister Artur Vidigal requested a review of the process.
The pensioner convicted in the first instance was approached to present her version. But he didn’t respond. The space remains open for possible demonstrations.
This content was originally published in With the help of her grandmother, a woman deceived the Army for more than 30 years and received a pension of R$3.7 million on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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