Andre Rebelo: Video shows man accused of murdering his mother lying to detectives about insurance frauds

A man accused of murdering his mother in her Bicton home repeatedly told police he knew nothing about life insurance policies taken out for her just before she died. Andre Rebelo later admitted that he fraudulently produced a copy of his mother Colleen Rebelo’s will, two medical information forms and a coroner’s report in a bid to get paid out. The 28-year-old is on trial in the WA Supreme Court, fighting a charge of murdering the mother-of-four laid two years after her death on May 25, 2020. In a police interview on September 16, 2020 that was played to the jury on Wednesday, Rebelo says “She wasn’t very wealthy” when he’s first asked about whether he received any insurance. “She had $1000 in her bank account. We haven’t done anything with that,” he said, adding that her house was “the only thing asset-wise”. Rebelo then admitted that local psychologist Narina Sidhu, who he described as the family counsellor, had texted him “something about AIA Insurance” and suggested he had done “something fraudulent”. “I called her straight away and said ‘what did you mean?’” he told the detectives. Rebelo said she had mentioned going to police and he responded: “Go to the police, I don’t care”. “I said ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about. I didn’t do anything wrong’.” He then said the brief exchange had occurred about a month prior - and was immediately pulled up by the detectives for contradicting himself, having said earlier in the interview that day was the first time he’d heard about the insurance policies. Rebelo was asked if he’d told anyone else about the conversation with Ms Sidhu and replied that the psychologist had also called his twin sister Monique. He said he told his sibling he didn’t know what she was talking about - then complained about the heat of the interview room, asking if the air conditioning had been turned off. The cops suggested he remove his jumper. Rebelo was then taken through how the claims had been lodged - and followed up on. He denied ever sending emails using his mother’s Gmail account, saying he didn’t know if one bearing her name was indeed hers, claiming the last time he’d emailed his mum was “years ago”. He also denied using email accounts belonging to his young brother Fabian and Ms Sidhu, and contacting RAC about insurance in relation to his mother - that he knew of. The detectives asked him if he now had a better idea of where the allegations were going, replying: “I can make a reasonable assessment”. They told him that on May 18, 2020, a $500,000 policy was created under the name Ms Andre Rebelo, stating the policyholder was female and using the same date of birth as his mother. But the mailing address provided was Beaconsfield - where he rented a luxury home with his then partner and mother of his son, Gracie Piscopo - and the mobile phone number was just one digit different to his own. Rebelo was the 100 per cent nominated beneficiary. The following day, the first policy instalment payment of $104.58 was made, using his ING visa bank card, the detectives told him. Six days later, Colleen Rebelo was dead. Then on 27 May, 2020 - according to the detectives - RAC received an email from Rebelo reading that she had “passed away” days earlier and he had “found” her policy with the company. “It’s the first time I’ve seen this,” Rebelo told the officers. They then showed him an email to RAC from his mother’s Gmail account with certified copies of his and his mother’s driver’s licences attached. “RAC then changed the policy to your mum’s name. Did you know that?” Senior Constable Matt Callaghan asked Rebelo. He replied: “It’s the first I’ve heard of it”. Snr Const Callaghan then asked if he knew why his mother had died - and was told it would take 12-14 months to hear back from the coroner. The detective then pointed to a July 30, 2020 email from the deceased woman’s email account to AIA Insurance, with a document purporting to be a coroner’s finding that she died from natural causes. “She can’t have sent this email,” he points out. Rebelo responds: “Not physically, no”. Before charging him with five counts of uttering a forged document and one count of attempted fraud, Snr Const Callaghan asks: “Did you know she was going to pass away? “Did you get wind that she was ill? “Were there any other issues going on, mental health?” If Rebelo gave an answer, it was so faint as to not be picked up by the microphone. The trial has previously been told how Rebelo and Ms Piscopo - who earnt a six-figure salary as a social media influencer - appeared to be living a luxurious and successful life but were in fact laden with debt. By June 2020, they owed more than $112,000 in total. There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing by Ms Piscopo. The trial continues.