‘I couldn’t have contact with anyone’, says socialite who accuses former driver of keeping her in prison for 10 years

Socialite Regina Gonçalves, aged 88, claims that she was held in private prison for 10 years by her former private driver, José Marcos Chaves Ribeiro, aged 53, in the prestigious Chopin Building, in the South Zone of Rio de Janeiro.

According to a report from Fantastic, from TV Globo, Regina is a widow and has no children. She inherited her billionaire fortune when her husband, Nestor Gonçalves, who was a farmer and businessman, died 30 years ago. He also owned the graphics park that produced Copag decks, popular in the country.

Regina was famous for hosting luxurious parties, but in the last ten years she was no longer seen in the building’s common areas, raising concerns among neighbors and friends.

An anonymous report about her disappearance was made to the Public Ministry of Rio in May 2022. At the time, acquaintances reported frustrated attempts to contact her and that their phones were under the control of José Marcos, always ready to respond, whether by phone or personally, with evasions and excuses claiming that Regina was sick.

The socialite claims that José Marcos kept her isolated. “He would take his cell phone…. I lived like this… Without being able to have contact with anyone. And everything was the way he thought and then he left, I stayed. I was in captivity,” she said on the TV Globo program.

Regina claims that she hired José Marcos as a driver in 2010, while he tells the court that their relationship was not just professional. “He was just a chauffeur and a chauffeur without conditions,” she said.

Fantástico obtained access to documents that form part of a legal dispute over the guardianship of Regina and her assets. José Marcos claims to have had a romantic relationship with her, claiming to be her husband, which she refutes.

A stable union deed, dated 2021, was registered when Marcos was 50 years old and Regina, 85. The document states that both were mentally fit, especially Regina, with two psychiatric reports being presented on her health.

In December 2023, José Marcos presented to the Court a third report from another psychiatrist, which contradicted the previous ones. He claimed that Regina suffered from advanced dementia with severe cognitive impairment, making her incapable of civil acts.

Upon learning of this, Regina was furious. After almost 14 years with José Marcos in the apartment, Regina managed to leave alone on January 2nd of this year, going to the house of her only living brother, who also lives in Copacabana.

“I decided to run away. I decided to put an end to it. The day I went to look for my brother’s house, I spoke, I arrived, they scared me. I had lost more than 30 kilos. I was pure bones,” she said.

The family, shocked by her health, requested a protection order for Regina. The measure was granted by the Court the following day, ordering José Marcos to remain at least 250 meters away from her.

On January 6, police went to the apartment. However, the doormen reported that José Marcos left as soon as he saw the car. Days later, José Marcos alleged to the court that Regina left home due to an outburst resulting from her fragile state and mental confusion.

Despite the protection order, he obtained in court the right to be her curator, receiving authority to manage all of the socialite’s assets, as provided for in the stable union.

The former driver did not return Fantástico’s contacts and his lawyer stated that he would not comment on the case.