A crypto trader has been found guilty of murdering his mother in order to claim over a million dollars in life insurance and maintain an illusion of living a ‘perfect life’, a court heard.
Colleen Rebelo, 58, was found dead in the shower by her youngest son at her home in Perth, Australia, on May 25, 2020.
It was later discovered that her son, Andre Zachary 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, and named himself as the sole beneficiary.
Although Ms Rebelo’s death was sudden and unexpected, it was never treated as suspicious by first responders who attended her home on the day she died, and an autopsy was unable to identify the cause of death.
At the time of the tragedy, Rebelo and his former partner Grace Piscopo, an Instagram influencer who has more than one million followers, appeared to be living a carefree lifestyle of luxury.
Social media posts showed them enjoying lavish holidays, driving flashy cars and living in pampered opulence.
But behind the scenes, the couple were struggling to maintain the facade of their ‘glamourous’ and ‘perfect’ life and had accrued debts of over $120,000, a jury heard.
Just days after his mother’s death, Rebelo, 28, started hounding the insurance companies to pay out their policies, including one worth $500,000 AUS (£252,000).
In his pursuit of the money, he provided the insurers with fake records about his mother’s health and death, phony copies of her medical records and coroner’s report, and even left the insurer a voicemail using an AI voice generator to impersonate Ms Rebelo’s psychologist.
It wasn’t until years later that an employee at an insurance company suspected the supermarket delivery driver turned crypto currency day trader was fraudulently trying to claim life insurance against his mother.
Police began investigating the circumstances surrounding Ms Rebelo’s death following a report of suspected fraud from the insurer, and her son was arrested in connection with her murder two years later.
During a two-day trial at West Australia’s Supreme Court, Rebelo pleaded guilty to fraud but denied killing his mother.
His twin sister and his two brothers testified that they knew nothing of the insurance policies taken out on their mother, and his father maintained his son’s innocence.
Addressing the jurors, prosecutor Brett Tooker painted a detailed picture of the ‘plastic fantastic’ lifestyle Rebelo portrayed on social media and how he would do anything to maintain it.
‘To the outside world they were rich and beautiful, but the truth was different,’ he told the court.
‘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 $40k he was being pursued by debt collection agencies at the time of his mother’s death.
‘He was crypto currency day trader … he had bankrolled his social media profile.
‘By May 2020 he must have thought his world was closing in around him.’
Ms Piscopo also took the stand during the eight-week trial and said her former partner had told her he was at his mother’s house on the morning of her death.
However, secretly taped conversations between the pair months later suggested this was not true and that he hid his location from her.
Leading up to his mother’s death, Rebelo owed more than $40,000 on a personal loan and in credit card debt.
His then-partner Ms Piscopo owed $70,000 on a car and $40,000 to the Australian Taxation Office, although she was unaware of that because Rebelo managed the couple’s finances.
They were even struggling to make rent payments on their Beaconsfield townhouse in south-west Perth.
Prosecutors argued Rebelo came up with ‘a horrible plan; to fix this situation’.
The defendant told the court he decided to claim on life insurance for the benefit of the whole family, but feared he was defrauding the insurers because he thought his mother had committed suicide.
The jury deliberated for almost two days before finding Rebelo guilty.
He was remanded in custody following the verdict and will be sentenced on April 4 2025.
Speaking outside the court, Rebelo’s father Antonio told reporters he still believed in his son’s innocence.
‘It’s sad, disappointing for everyone. Very sad for everyone,’ he said.
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