The lover of social media influencer Gracie Piscopo has been charged with trying to forge his mother’s death certificate after he allegedly murdered her.
Andre Rebelo, 26, was arrested last month for the alleged murder of his mother Colleen, 58, after she was found dead at her Western Australian home in the affluent Perth suburb of Bicton, on May 25, 2020.
The mother-of-four’s death was not initially considered to be suspicious, with no obvious signs of injury, and her body was cremated soon after.
But police launched an investigation after allegations of life insurance fraud emerged five months later.
Andre Rebelo, the lover of social media influencer Gracie Piscopo (pictured), has been charged with trying to forge his mother’s death certificate after he allegedly murdered her
Rebelo, a cryptocurrency trader, is alleged to have used his own bank card to take out life insurance on his mother weeks before her death.
He is now also accused of allegedly forging her death certificate, The West Australian reported on Monday.
Colleen Rebelo, 58, was found dead in her in her home in Bicton, an affluent riverside suburb in Perth, Western Australia, in May 2020
Rebelo – who lives with Piscopo and their son Romeo, 3, at their beachside home at Perth’s North Coogee – faces five charges of forgery with intent to defraud.
Piscopo earlier spoke about her ‘shock’ that her partner had been charged with murder and forgery but said she was focused solely on caring for their son as Rebelo sits in jail awaiting trial.
Rebelo appeared before Perth District Court last month for a trial listing hearing on the forgery charges.
A further charge of attempting to gain benefit by fraud has since been dropped by police.
‘It’s taken two years to get it to this point,’ said Detective Sergeant Clinton Bragg when Rebelo was initially charged with murder last month.
‘It’s just an example of how we will not stop until we thoroughly investigate to bring this to a conclusion.’
Rebelo’s mother lived alone when she died, after divorcing her husband Antonio 10 years earlier, family friends revealed.
Pictured is the post Ms Piscopo made the day after her boyfriend’s mother died to promote a fake tan brand. Daily Mail Australia does not suggest any wrongdoing by Ms Piscopo
Last week, Piscopo – who has modelled for Khloe Kardashian’s brand Good American – admitted she was struggling to get through the shock of the ordeal.
She told reporters last week: ‘I’m just focusing on my son right now.’
Rebelo was last month arrested and handcuffed by police at their home before being taken away for questioning.
He appeared at Fremantle Magistrates Court on November 22 charged with his mother’s murder and was remanded in custody until December 21.
Piscopo has been in a relationship with Rebelo for eight years and has more than one million followers on Instagram and 300,000-plus subscribers on YouTube.
Gracie Piscopo (left, holding son Romeo) admitted she was struggling to get through the shock of her lover Andre Rebelo (right) being charged with the murder of his mother
Daily Mail Australia does not suggest any wrongdoing by Piscopo.
Fans claim she has deleted several recent photographs of the couple together from her social media feeds.
Earlier photos show the pair attending lavish events while also posting loved-up snaps from their time on holidays.
On one trip the couple, along with their son, stayed in a floating villa in the Maldives.
In a Father’s Day post from 2019, Piscopo said her partner was ‘born to be a dad’.
‘You are so patient, kind and strong, everything I hope Romeo will become. I’m so proud of you and I’m so blessed that Romeo has a role model like you to look up to,’ she wrote.
Ms Piscopo’s social media accounts were once flooded with photos of her and Rebelo – among them an image of him feeding her grapes in the waters of the Maldives (pictured)
In another post earlier on in their relationship, the influencer described Rebelo as her best friend.
‘Someone I trust my life with and if you are ever lucky enough to fall in love with your best friend then you are the luckiest person in the world because there is nothing better believe me,’ she wrote.
‘You always try so hard and I love how you love me so unconditionally and you don’t look at me and see a flaw, you look at me with so much love in your sweet brown eyes like I am a gift.
‘I just want to thank you for being the best gift, the best friend, the best partner, the BEST boyfriend I could have ever asked for.’
Fans claim Gracie Piscopo (pictured here with Andre Rebelo and their son Romeo in the pram) has deleted several recent photographs of the couple together from her social media feeds
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