A woman, known as ‘the Criminal Barbie,’ aged 32, has been apprehended for allegedly planning to rob several upscale apartments in an intricate scheme. Paola Co Carita Gobel, along with three men, was arrested for attempting to break into a luxury complex in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, to commit the burglaries. Gobel, also called ‘Catwoman’ (‘Mulher Gato’) by the local press, has a history of gaining access to high-end residential buildings by pretending to be a resident’s acquaintance, relative, or even an escort, and then stealing valuable items. She had previously faced similar charges in October 2023, resulting in community service and a monetary penalty.
In this recent incident, Gobel and her accomplices allegedly rented an apartment within the complex to use as a base for their criminal activities. However, suspicions arose among neighbors when they observed the group moving in with minimal belongings on November 14 and later filming neighboring properties while concealing their faces. Acting on a tip-off, the police investigated the rental agreement and found it was signed under the name of a civil servant who had reported identity theft.
Marcel Willian Oliveira de Souza, the police chief for Paraíba from Brazil’s Special Department of Criminal Investigations (DEIC), stated that discrepancies in the rental agreement and eyewitness reports of suspicious behavior led them to believe the property was being utilized for illicit purposes. Detectives suspect that cloned credit cards might have been used for rental payments.
A police raid conducted on November 19 uncovered drugs, a fake rental agreement, and a stolen vehicle in the garage. During the operation, one suspect destroyed a mobile phone to prevent it from being seized. The Civil Police are awaiting forensic analysis to retrieve data from the suspects’ phones and ascertain if others were present in the apartment.
The group faces charges of criminal conspiracy, falsification of vehicle registration numbers, possession of stolen goods, trespassing, and identity fraud. Police chief Oliveira de Souza highlighted Gobel’s criminal history, mentioning her involvement in a burglary where approximately one million reais (£140,000) were stolen. She was arrested at her boyfriend’s residence, where drugs were found in his possession.
For swift access to valued news, designate Daily Mirror as a ‘Preferred Source’ on Google News.