Our fathers are supposed to be our superheroes. The superhero that brings us to the dentist and assures us that everything will be okay and the one who “halau-s” all the insects for us. However, this man probably doesn’t deserve to even be called a father.
Mirror UK reported that an unemployed Brazilian man, Mateus Alves, has been accused of stealing £130k (RM660k) from his 19-month-old son’s medical fund.
The medical fund, which has around £216K (RM1.1 mil), is supposed to be used to prolong the life of João Miguel, who has Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA). SMA is a disease that robs people of physical strength by affecting the motor nerve cells in the spinal cord, taking away the ability to walk, eat, or breathe.
Source: Mirror UK
The funds were actually sourced during a year of crowdfunding campaigns to buy three doses of Spinraza (also known as Nusinersen), the first approved drug to treat the disorder.
Each dose costs up to £81k, and he needs around 6 doses. This drug is not covered under Brazil’s national health service.
After a month on the run, the police finally arrested him at a five-star beachfront resort in Salvador. While your kid was suffering?! How low can you go?
Source: Mirror UK
“At the time of his arrest, Mateus claimed he had spent the money bingeing on women, drinks, and drugs.” said Police chief Daniel Gomes.
“He also alleged that he was being blackmailed by drug dealers for the rest of the money. But we have no evidence so far to support this claim.”
Investigators have also found indications that Mateus was planning to open a brothel in the city with a female business partner, to whom he gave a sum of £10,800 to recruit some call girls.
Source: Mirror UK
He was also seen boasting on Instagram with a full bag of marijuana, designer items, and his fancy hotel room. In a video, he said, “I come from a poor background, but now I don’t have anything to do with that.”
His wife, Karine had said she that she would have never guessed that her husband was capable of such things as he had always been very loving towards his son and his family.
Matheus has been charged with acting fraudulently, scamming and deceiving people into donating money for his son’s campaign and using it for another purpose.
He also has to answer for abandoning his wife and two children.
Both charges carry a penalty of up to five years.
Source: Mirror UK
We do hope that they will be able to get back some of the money for little João. We also hope that justice will be served to the father.
