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Case involving Bahia public servant resurfaced after definitive conviction for fraud, with a sentence in open regime, community service, and monetary payment. Investigation pointed out contradictions between the kidnapping version narrated by Vanderley dos Santos Gomes and elements found by the forensic team.
The Bahia public servant Vanderley dos Santos Gomes was convicted of fraud after the court concluded that he faked a robbery followed by kidnapping to try to receive about R$ 1.5 million in insurance compensation.
Recorded in 2019, the case resurfaced this Sunday (21), when new details of the investigation were disclosed by the newspaper O Globo after the final judgment of the case and the start of the sentence execution.
The definitive decision set two years of imprisonment in an open regime, in addition to 720 hours of community service and payment of a monetary penalty estimated at about R$ 8,000.
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Backpack found 350 meters away weakened kidnapping account
The version presented by Vanderley began to be contested when investigators located a backpack about 350 meters from the point where he had been rescued, in São Gonçalo dos Campos, in the interior of Bahia.
Inside the material, the forensic team found objects that the servant claimed had been taken by the criminals, in addition to the amputated foot, an element considered decisive to dismantle the narrative presented to the authorities.
In the first report to the police, Vanderley said he was approached by armed men after leaving a health unit in Cruz das Almas, a municipality located in the Recôncavo of Bahia.
According to the version informed to the authorities, he would have been placed inside a car, assaulted, and taken to a rural road, where the amputation would have occurred during the supposed kidnapping.
The investigation, however, began to point out significant contradictions in the testimony, especially after the location of a cell phone, watch, and other belongings that should have been with the assailants if the initial version were true.
These objects were in the backpack found near the rescue site, a circumstance that contradicted the narrative of robbery followed by kidnapping and helped support the fraud charge against the civil servant.
Four insurance policies were contracted before the occurrence
Another point considered by the authorities was the contracting of four life and personal accident insurance policies before the occurrence, in a set of policies that could generate million-dollar compensations in case of disability.
According to CNN Brasil, Vanderley signed contracts that, combined, could result in payments of up to R$ 1.5 million, an amount that began to be analyzed by insurers and investigators.
The policies mentioned in reports about the case involved the insurers Allianz, Zurich, Tokio Marine, and Sompo, companies that also appear in the context of the attempt to receive the compensations.
With the sequence of contracts and the subsequent attempt to activate the insurance, the case began to draw the attention of the companies, which questioned the occurrence and contributed to the advancement of the investigations.
According to the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Bahia, cited by CNN Brasil, Vanderley allegedly arranged with third parties to amputate his own right foot to simulate a crime and obtain the payment of compensations.
This formulation was part of the accusation presented in the case and was considered in the fraud conviction, along with other evidence gathered during the police investigation and judicial analysis.
Justice pointed out contradictions in the presented version
For the Justice, the set of elements indicated that the crime narrated by the civil servant had not occurred as reported, mainly due to the incompatibility between the testimony and the forensic findings.
The recent contracting of the insurance, the location of the backpack, the personal objects found, and the attempt to receive compensations formed the basis of the conclusion that there was a simulation.
The case was registered in 2019, while the conviction occurred in 2025, according to the UOL report based on information from Agência Estado about the progress of the case.
The start of the sentence was in May 2026, after the final judgment, a stage in which there was no longer the possibility of appeal against the decision.
Originally from Amélia Rodrigues, a municipality in Bahia, Vanderley’s account was associated with different cities in the state, as the alleged incident supposedly occurred after he left a health unit in Cruz das Almas.
The incident related to the plea for help was located in São Gonçalo dos Campos, also in Bahia, where the backpack was found near the point where the employee was eventually located.
In this scenario, the attempt at compensation placed the insurance companies at the center of the investigation, because the contracts had been signed shortly before the injury that would motivate the payment requests.
The total amount stipulated in the policies and the sequence of requests reinforced the suspicion of fraud, according to information disclosed by the journalistic reports consulted on the case.
Defense did not comment in the sources consulted
UOL reported that it contacted lawyer Rita Angela Gomes Tourinho, identified as Vanderley’s defender, and was awaiting a response until the publication of the report on the final conviction.
The same investigation recorded that Estadão was unable to contact the public servant, leaving the defense’s or the convicted’s version on the fulfillment of the sentence without direct comment.
Without new comments in the sources consulted, the publicly available version remains based on the judicial decision, on information attributed to the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Bahia, and on journalistic investigations published about the case.
There is also no record in the verified reports of a direct statement from Vanderley regarding the final conviction, the start of the sentence, or the elements pointed out by the investigation.
The repercussion in June 2026 occurred because new details were disclosed after the conviction became final, revisiting central elements of the investigation initiated in 2019.
Among these points, the backpack found near the rescue location remained one of the most relevant factors in explaining why the version of robbery followed by kidnapping was rejected.
The process ended with the upholding of the conviction for fraud and the serving of the sentence in an open regime, in addition to community service hours and the pecuniary penalty set by the court.
The case continues to be cited in reports as an episode of fraud involving insurance, an attempt at a million-dollar compensation, and the use of a crime version that was ultimately contested by evidence gathered in the investigation.
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