A cryptocurrency trader, Andre Zachary Rebelo, has been found guilty of murdering his mother, Colleen Rebelo, 58, to claim over £500,000 in life insurance benefits.
Rebelo took out three separate life insurance policies worth a total of $1,200,000 (£500,000) against his mother in the week before she died, naming himself as the sole beneficiary.
Colleen Rebelo’s death was sudden and unexpected, and it was initially not treated as suspicious.
However, an investigation was launched after an insurance company employee suspected Rebelo of fraudulently trying to claim life insurance benefits against his mother.
During the investigation, it was discovered that Rebelo had provided fake records about his mother’s health and death, including phony copies of her medical records and coroner’s report. He even left a voicemail using an AI voice generator to impersonate his mother’s psychologist.
Prosecutor Brett Tooker told the court that Rebelo’s motivation for the murder was to maintain his “plastic fantastic” lifestyle, which he had portrayed on social media.
Tooker said, “To the outside world, they were rich and beautiful, but the truth was different. Andre was in dire financial trouble, he had lived his life on credit, he had a personal loan and credit card debt of more than $40,000.”
Rebelo’s twin sister and two brothers testified that they knew nothing about the insurance policies taken out on their mother. His father, Antonio Rebelo, maintained his son’s innocence, saying, “It’s sad, and disappointing for everyone. Very sad for everyone.”
Rebelo’s then-partner, Instagram influencer Grace Piscopo, also took the stand during the trial. She said that Rebelo had told her he was at his mother’s house on the morning of her death, but secretly taped conversations between the pair suggested that this was not true.
Rebelo owed more than $40,000 on a personal loan and in credit card debt at the time of his mother’s death. Piscopo owed $70,000 on a car and $40,000 to the Australian Taxation Office, although she was unaware of the latter because Rebelo managed the couple’s finances.
Rebelo was taken into custody and charged with one count of murder over the death of his mother.
