Police in Rio de Janeiro have arrested a celebrity plastic surgeon, known as “Dr Bumbum” along with his mother in connection with murder after one of his patients died following a surgical procedure conducted in his apartment on Saturday.

Rio police tweeted that, following a tip-off to a hotline, Denis Furtado, 45, had been arrested in the upmarket, beachside neighbourhood where he performed the buttock-enhancing treatment on bank manager Lilian Calixto, 46. She died in hospital in the early hours of Sunday morning.



“He was arrested in a business centre in Barra de Tijuca,” police tweeted, following up with a photo of Furtado and his mother, Maria Fátima Barros, in custody.



A mãe do médico também foi presa pelos policiais do #31BPM. pic.twitter.com/fHmloTZ8y0 — PMERJ (@PMERJ) July 19, 2018

Rio’s O Globo news site reported that both Furtado and his mother had been arrested at a lawyer’s office in a business centre.



Furtado had become a celebrity in Brazil and revelled in his nickname in social media posts. He had more than 600,000 followers on his Instagram account and a further 44,000 on his Facebook page. He used both to publish “before” and “after” photos of his treatments. He had also posted about buttock-enhancing treatments using Poly (methyl methacrylate), or PMMA, a synthetic resin also known as acrylic glass filler. The Brazilian Plastic Surgery Society has issued warnings over its use.

Preventive prison orders, akin to arrest warrants, had been issued for Furtado and his mother in connection with the murder of Calixto. While at large the pair had sought a judicial order so they could remain free while their case proceeded, but were turned down by a Rio court.

A court statement said: “The doctor even broke the barrier of a parking lot in a shopping mall in Barra with a car on seeing a police vehicle and escaped with his mother.”

Furtado’s girlfriend and receptionist, Renata Fernandes, has been detained in police custody. Police are also looking for a nursing technician. Furtado’s mother was a doctor, but according to local media, her medical licence to practice in Rio had been suspended.

Furtado was licensed to practice in Brasília and the nearby state of Goiás, where he also performed treatments, but not in Rio, according to the state’s regional medical council. The Brazilian Plastic Surgery Society said he was not a trained plastic surgeon.

Denis Furtado speaks to the press at police headquarters after his arrest in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Photograph: Leo Correa/AP

Calixto was buried on Wednesday in Cuiabá. Relatives told local media she had told them that she was going to have a simple procedure without saying what it was and expected to be back that night.



According to the G1 news site, a medical report by the Barra D’Or private hospital showed she had arrived lucid, was showing signs of tachycardia, difficulties in breaching and was sweating. The hospital refused to comment.



In a press conference on Wednesday in Brasília, Furtado’s lawyer Naiara Baldanza said her client was innocent and had not given himself up because he suffered from “panic syndrome”.

“For every truth there is a parallel truth,” she told reporters. “Many facts have surfaced and I am sure we will show the innocence of Dr Denis.”

In videos published on his Instagram account on Wednesday, Furtado said he was being treated unjustly.

“As everyone knows, an accident happened,” he said, adding a patient had left his consulting room after a treatment to her buttocks that he had performed many times. He then said he took Calixto to hospital where she had a heart attack.