‘Russian diplomat’ who shot and killed armed mugger in Rio was a Brazilian lawyer with fake ID
He was carrying a fake Russian consular ID card
WE can reveal that the man involved in the death of an armed mugger was Brazilian lawyer Marcus Cezar Feres Braga.
The Russian embassy was forced to deny claims he was a Russian vice consul after he presented a FAKE Russian consular ID card to police.
The Consul General of the Russian Federation in Rio de Janeiro, Vladimir Tokmakov, said that Marcus Cezar Feres Braga has no links with Russian representatives in Brazil.
"This citizen does not have any link with the consulate, embassy or any Russian representation in the country. Our representatives only include Russian nationals,” Tokmakov told Folha de Sao Paulo.
He stressed that the portfolio claimed by Braga is false.
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He said: "Russia does not issue consul ID cards to anyone."
According to police, Marcus Cezar Feres Braga, 60, is a Brazilian lawyer. He is alleged to have presented a false consular identification card which claimed he was employed as a Russian vice consul in the state of Minas Gerais.
A photograph of Braga can be found on Brazil’s national registration of lawyers portal. His offices are listed as being based in Barra da Tijuca, in the west zone of Rio near the Olympic City.
Braga was driving on Avenue of the Americas, in Barra da Tijuca, when the robber smashed his car window and pointed a gun at him, demanding he hand over his watch.
He pulled the would-be mugger into his car, grabbed his gun and shot him dead at point blank range.
The robber struck on motorbike while the diplomat waited for traffic to start moving just after the Olympic torch relay had passed by on the last day before the Rio 2016 opening ceremony.
Witnesses said that Olympic cyclists from Slovenia were passing by at the moment of the shooting.
The body of the mugger, named as Leonardo Lopes Batista, lay for several hours on the road as police underwent investigations and was seen by various Olympic delegations.
His accomplice fled after seeing his partner killed.
Police said a full investigation is now underway.
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