A man accused of killing his mother to gain money from life insurance policies he set up against her had declared bankruptcy after her death, a court has been told. The WA Supreme Court was told Andre Zachary Rebelo portrayed a life of luxury with his model defacto Grace Piscopo on social media, but the prosecution argued he was in debt trying to fund a “plastic” lifestyle on credit cards and personal loans. Mr Rebelo is on trial for the murder of his mother Colleen Rebelo who was found dead in her Bicton home on May 25, 2020.
He has pleaded not guilty. He allegedly took out three life insurance policies against his mother in the week before she died then started the claims process to access the premiums days after she died. He pursued one of the claims worth $500,000 submitting forged documents to expedite the payout from the insurer.
The court was told the insurer suspected the claim was fraudulent and reported it to police. The jury heard Mr Rebelo pleaded guilty to fraud but denied killing his mother. The financial position of Mr Rebelo and Ms Piscopo was revealed in court on Tuesday, which showed Mr Rebelo had barely any money in his savings account a month after Ms Rebelo was found dead in her home.
WA Police Financial Crime Squad investigator Darren Stammers examined the couple’s financial records over a three-year period from June 2018 until June 2020. He told the court on Tuesday the couple had a combined income of about $339,000 mostly earned through Ms Piscop.
