Wednesday Weirdness: Brazilian Adoption Fraud
Welcome to Wednesday Weirdness, a recurring theme where we post something truly weird and wacky in adoption or child welfare.
“A woman accused of pretending to be a 12-year-old girl to con families into adopting her has been exposed for allegedly running at least seven similar scams across Brazil.
Amanda Maria Souza de Oliveira, 37, was linked to cases in several other states after a judge ordered her to undergo psychiatric testing.
The alleged impostor was arrested after spending more than a year living with a couple in Joinville, in the state of Santa Catarina.
Investigators say she used fake names, made up stories of abuse and behaved in a childlike manner to gain sympathy, before swindling families, churches and social workers into helping her financially.
The couple in south Brazil cared for her as their adopted daughter for at least 14 months, according to investigators. [They didn’t actual adopt her.]
Cops say she pretended to be a child in other cities including Porto Alegre, Curitiba, Florianopolis, Chapeco and Nova Iguacu, as well as in the states of Minas Gerais, Goias and Ceara, where she was born.
Allegedly using the fake name “Gabriele”, she typically approached victims by claiming she had escaped violent abuse, forced prostitution or mistreatment by relatives.
A volunteer in Rio de Janeiro said the con-woman contacted her through social media in 2023 asking for assistance.
“She said her father had forced her into prostitution and that he was involved in witchcraft rituals,” the volunteer told local media.
Oliveira allegedly confessed to her crimes during questioning.
“She claimed she escaped by hitchhiking.”
The volunteer travelled with a friend to Mage, in Rio de Janeiro state, where Oliveira had been staying with an elderly woman.
With the assistance of the volunteer, she was brought to Nova Iguacu.
The volunteer said she “mobilised friends, rented a house and took care of her”.
” She seemed like an obese autistic teenager and spoke like a child,” she added.
Authorities allege Oliveira continued her deceptive act by pretending to suffer from autism and other medical conditions.
She also allegedly behaved and softened the pitch of her voice to appear younger.
Investigators said to maintain the deception she also used baby bottles, pacifiers and a comfort blanket to sleep.
Her elaborate ruse included faked panic attacks during the night and behaving in an emotionally dependent way, commonly associated with children.
Oliveira has been accused of using the same methods in every city she visited, allegedly using the same scam successfully on at least seven occasions before the current case.
She first approached a church in Joinville, where she told a pastor that she had escaped mistreatment, authorities say.
The couple who eventually took her in, became deeply emotionally attached to her, treating her as their daughter for 14 months, even throwing her a birthday party.
They had even considered formally adopting her, as well as paying for the expensive obesity medication Mounjaro, after she claimed to suffer from health issues linked to childhood abuse.
Oliveira avoided conversations about making the adoption official and she also never carried identification documents, according to investigators.
Her alleged act continued for 14 months before a relative became suspicious and searched online for similar cases.
The relative later reported her to police, who then found reports linking Oliveira to the several nearly identical incidents across Brazil.
Authorities say she was previously detained in Rio de Janeiro and Goias over similar allegations but was later released.
She said she then contacted a friend who worked as a captain in the local Military Police before
A volunteer, who arranged tests after becoming suspicious when needles began emerging from Oliveira’s body, revealed: “The doctor looked shocked and told us he had worked in the field for years and had never seen anything like it.
“He said she had more than 200 needles in her body,” she added.
Police in Goiania have released X-ray images allegedly showing dozens of needles inside the woman’s body following another examination in 2024.
Medical staff also confirmed her real age as investigators uncovered the alleged scam.
Authorities in Goias have convicted Oliveira of false identity offences.
But police say she had not yet served the sentence imposed by the court.
Oliveira was ordered to remain in custody at Joinville Women’s Prison as an official mental health examination is carried out.
The psychiatric evaluation could help clarify “the circumstances related to the case”, according to defence lawyer Rafael Luiz Siewert.”
[The US Sun 6/4/66 by Gemma Scerri]
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