Socialite accuses former driver of keeping her imprisoned for 10 years in her own apartment in Copacabana | Fantastic

Socialite accuses former driver of keeping her imprisoned for 10 years in her own apartment in Copacabana

The address is Copacabana, one of the most famous beaches in the world. More specifically, in one of the most emblematic buildings in Rio de Janeiro: the Chopin Building, next door to the Copacabana Palace, a historic and sumptuous hotel in the south of the city.

It is at this address that socialite Regina Lemos Gonçalves lives. What no one knew until then was that the dark windows of the luxurious apartment hid more than the privacy of the residents.

After four months away, Regina returned to the thousand square meter property, decorated with works of art, exclusive pieces and collector’s objects.

She is a widow and has no children. She was already rich and inherited a billion-dollar fortune when her husband died 30 years ago. Nestor Gonçalves was a farmer and businessman. He became the owner of the graphics park that produced Copag decks — very popular in Brazil.

Regina was known for throwing extravagant parties, but she was no longer seen in the building’s common areas in the last ten years, which made neighbors and friends worried.

They made an anonymous report about the disappearance to the Rio Public Ministry in May 2022. At the time, they said they tried in vain to contact Regina.

They stated that her phones were used and always answered by José Marcos Chaves Ribeiro. And that in calls or in person he always came with evasive denials, claiming illness so as not to speak directly to her.

Regina says that José Marcos isolated her.

“He would take his cell phone…. I lived like this… Without being able to have contact with anyone. And everything was the way he thought and then he left, I stayed. I was in captivity.”

Fantástico tried to talk to him several times this week — without success.

Dona Regina, as the residents treat the socialite, says she hired José Marcos as a driver in 2010. “He was just a chauffeur and an unqualified chauffeur.”

In court, he said it was more than that.

Fantástico had access to documents that are part of a legal dispute over who should take care of Dona Regina and her assets.

José Marcos claims that the two had a romantic relationship. He said he was Regina’s husband, which she denies. “An audacity, a boldness.”

However, there is a stable union deed registered in 2021. At the time, Marcos was 50 years old. Regina was 85.

The document states that the two were in full use of their mental faculties. Mainly Regina, because two psychiatric certificates were presented to prove her health.

The news of an alleged romance between the two shocked family and close friends. Carlos Queiroz, Regina’s nephew, says he was suspicious.

“Because of her age. She had made a pact. After my uncle died, her husband – who is my real aunt – would never marry again. She was in love with him. It was everything for him, for her , right? I thought it was strange.

Álvaro O’hara, designer and friend of Regina, too.

“Why would Regina ever get involved with a person like him? Regina’s level – and it’s not that I put her as a better person than everyone else – is that she doesn’t communicate this story. She always had him as her employee .”

In another part of the stable union, the document says that in the event of any mental incapacity, complete or partial, transitory or definitive, of one of the two, the other must be appointed as their guardian and legal representative to the detriment of any others already existing.

The deed states that their statement was recorded on video. She says she doesn’t remember signing any paper. Relatives claim, without evidence, that Regina was under the influence of medication.

“A person who is coerced, drugged, doped, afraid. If young women, active on the internet, suffer this type of harassment, imagine a classic, ‘belle époque’ woman?”, asks Álvaro.

The stable union, in which Regina’s mental health was certified, dates from December 2021.

The following year, in response to a notification from the family asking for news about the socialite, another report was presented confirming that she was fine.

This response is signed by José Marcos and Regina.

In December 2023, the former driver handed the court a third report, from another psychiatrist, saying exactly the opposite. That, now, Regina presented advanced dementia with severe cognitive deficit that made her unable to perform the acts of civil life.

Upon learning of this, the socialite was furious.

Dona Regina stayed with José Marcos in the apartment for almost 14 years. It was only on January 2nd of this year that she managed to leave alone and went to the house of her only living brother who also lives in Copacabana.

The socialite says it was an escape.

“I decided to run away. I decided to put an end to it. The day I went to look for my brother’s house, I spoke, I arrived, they scared me. I had lost more than 30 kilos. I was pure bones.”

The family says they were horrified by her health and filed a request for protection from Regina.

The court granted the protective measure the following day. José Marcos has to stay at least 250 meters away from her.

“How many women her age go through situations similar to her? So it means that she is a double victim. She is a victim because she is a woman and a victim because she is elderly. So it is very difficult sometimes for the victim’s word at this age to be really recognized. And she speaks with great grandeur about what she went through”, says Regina’s lawyer.

On January 6, police went to the apartment. But, according to the agents’ reports, doormen said that José Marcos left when he saw the car arriving.

Days later, José Marcos declared to the court that Regina only left home because she had a seizure due to her fragile state and mental confusion.

Even with the protective measure, he obtained the right to be her curator in court, and gained powers to manage the socialite’s entire assets — just as was stipulated in the stable union.

According to the family, there are hundreds of apartments, land and mansions. In just one condominium in São Conrado, in the south zone of Rio, she has 4 mansions.

Regina’s relatives say that one of the mansions — with 11 rooms — is being occupied by José Marcos. The house is 1,400 square meters.

The socialite claims that the former driver had already been controlling her financial life for many years.

“He didn’t leave a penny. He took my… My documents, went to the credit card, spent it, spent it.”

According to Regina’s defense, there is evidence “that he squandered his assets.”

The family claims that they had been trying to remove José Marcos from Regina since 2016. They went to the police and visited the apartment with social workers.

Regina’s brother, according to his nephew, even tried to have her interdicted in court to prevent José Marcos from having access to the assets. But, according to the nephew, the former driver and his lawyers always managed to prevent the family’s actions.

“They presented the report that she was fine, she was lucid. They talked to her, she said she was fine. I believe it was more coercion, fear of the person, that normal thing.”

Neither the family nor lawyers yet have precise information about the size of Regina’s assets. What they do know is how much her husband left when he died in 1994.

The inheritance was around 500 million dollars. Today, close to two and a half billion reais. In the apartment alone, it is estimated that there were 15 million worth of jewelry, precious stones and gold bars stored in seven safes that were emptied during the period she was away from home.

“I knew all her jewelry. Everything is gone. She had a ruby ​​riviera. Everything is gone. Van Cleef, Bulgari, Cartier, valuable pieces, diamonds, chocolate, gold, rare things. There’s nothing left, nothing”, says Álvaro. “

The businessman claims that there are other items that have disappeared.

In addition to looking for José Marcos, Fantástico also tried to speak to the former driver’s defense about the accusations made by Regina’s family by phone and messages. His lawyer was adamant: he said he wouldn’t give an interview either.

The situation today is that there are two court decisions. In the criminal area, José Marcos is prohibited from approaching the socialite.

But in the civil area, the former driver is responsible for managing all of Dona Regina’s assets.

In the fight for control of the socialite’s assets, two wills were produced. The first benefited only José Marcos — which Regina’s relatives consider suspicious.

The second, made this year, divided the inheritance between Regina’s brother and her nephew. The division of assets will also be decided in court.

Regina says she wants punishment.

“When a person acts the way he acted and has acted? What does he deserve? To be punished. And he must be punished.”

Regina’s lawyers say they will challenge the deed of stable union between the two. The family also wants to remove the former driver from managing Regina’s assets.

Alongside friends, the promise is to see Madonna’s show, on Copacabana beach, next week.

And now, at 88 years old, Ms. Regina says she wants to remove the films that make the windows dark. And live.

“I want to be happy again. Because for me everything is a party.”