The loot is valued at 140 million euros.
Brazilian police announced on Wednesday the arrest of a woman suspected of having extorted and robbed her own mother, including stealing master paintings.
A total of 16 paintings were stolen.
Among them
O Sono
(sleep) and
Sol Poente
(setting sun), two works by Tarsila do Amaral, one of the great figures of Brazilian modernism, both estimated at several tens of millions of euros, according to the local press.
The 82-year-old victim had inherited the fortune and works of art from her husband, Jean Boghici, a renowned collector who died seven years ago.
According to investigators, everything had been cleverly orchestrated for months by the girl to seize her mother's fortune.
Three of his alleged accomplices have been arrested and two others are still wanted by the police.
A false seer as an accomplice
In early 2020, the victim was first approached by a so-called clairvoyant who told him that her daughter was seriously ill, before convincing her to pay astronomical sums to perform 'spiritual work' to save her .
Five million reais (about 950,000 euros) were thus paid into the accounts of several accomplices.
Subsequently, the daughter fired her mother's domestic workers, to keep her isolated at home during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, the elderly lady was stripped of her possessions, including her jewelry and the valuable collection of paintings.
Estimated at 250 million reais (about 47 million euros), the
Sol Poente
canvas was found under a bed base at the home of one of the arrested suspects.
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