The genderfluid husband of a diamond ‘heiress’ has been accused of ‘torturing her with boiling oil and putting hairspray in her eyes’.
Betty Grafstein, a 96-year-old British socialite met her third husband Jose Castelo Branco, 61, in the 1990s after the death of her second husband.
The couple became famous for their extravagant lifestyles, matching cosmetic procedures and designers clothes.
Although this year Branco has been accused of abusing Grafstein after she ended up in a Portuguese hospital with a fractured femur and injured wrist.
Now Portuguese prosecutors have now charged Branco with repeatedly assaulting his wife in Lisbon and the US.
With the indictment also alleging that Branco tortured Grafstein with boiling oil and put hairspray in her eyes while telling her ‘don’t cry, it ruins your makeup’.
Branco, who has vehemently denied all allegations of abuse, has insisted that he’s devoted to her care.
Betty Grafstein (right), a 96-year-old British socialite met her third husband Jose Castelo Branco (left), 61, in the 1990s after the death of her second husband
The public prosecutor’s office said in a statement: ‘The indictment states that, since the start of the marriage, the suspect abused the victim physically and verbally’
The public prosecutor’s office said in a statement: ‘The indictment states that, since the start of the marriage, the suspect abused the victim physically and verbally.’
The indictment claimed the assaults included ‘punching her all over her body and pushing her’, and squeezing her neck ‘until she had difficulty breathing’. Branco allegedly described his wife as ‘old’ and ‘ugly’ on a daily basis.
‘By carrying out the conduct described, the defendant directly and necessarily caused the victim Betty Grafstein to feel anxious and afraid, fearing the actions that the defendant might take towards her, namely that he would offend her physical integrity, humiliate her, intimidate her or even kill her,’ it continued.
Grafstein’s son from another marriage, Roger Basile, 75, has also previously weighed in, echoing claims that the abuse has been ongoing for decades.
‘I’ve been silent because this has been happening for years,’ Basile told Vanity Fair. ‘I didn’t want to say things people didn’t already know.’
He recounted a horrifying alleged incident from the late 1990s when he said he found his mother ‘black-and-blue’ after Castelo Branco allegedly knocked her down and repeatedly kicked her.
‘When I got there, she was black-and-blue, from her buttocks to her neck, where José knocked her down and kept kicking her on the ground … She always took José back.’
Castelo Branco, a flamboyant Portuguese reality TV star dubbed ‘The Count,’ is known for his feminine style
Their Upper East Side apartment, far from being a multimillion-dollar property, is actually a rent-stabilized unit
Her son recounted a horrifying alleged incident from the late 1990s when he said he found his mother ‘black-and-blue, from her buttocks to her neck’ after Jose allegedly knocked her down and repeatedly kicked her
Alexandre Guerreiro, Grafstein’s lawyer, told Portuguese media: ‘It was encouraging to see that the public prosecutor’s office had the sensitivity to understand the gravity [of the case] and the alleged aggressor’s conduct towards Mrs Grafstein.’
She was born in London but moved to the US in the 1940s, where she married her second husband Albert Grafstein, a jeweller in 1959.
The couple bought a house in Portugal in the 1970s, where she moved after her husband’s death in 1991.
She reportedly met Branco at a dinner in New York, where Branco claims he was unaware of their 30 year age gap.
He identifies as having both male and female characteristics, though looks and is often thought to be a woman because of his extremely feminine style and makeup.
They broke through into stardom after being arrested at Lisbon airport in 2003 with £1.6million worth of undeclared diamonds necklaces, bracelets, rings and watches.
They were cleared of any wrongdoing.
But Castelo Branco (right) vehemently denies all allegations of abuse, insisting that he’s devoted to Grafstein’s care
Castelo Branco, a flamboyant Portuguese reality TV star known for his feminine style, was arrested in April after Grafstein ended up in a Portuguese hospital with a fractured femur and injured wrist (Castelo Branco walks the runway in NYC, 2016)
Pictured: Castelo Branco inside their lavish Upper East Side home, which turns out to be a rental
However, it is believed that their glamorous lifestyle is far from reality after Basile claimed that his mother is ‘penniless’ and lives off Social Security.
Their Upper East Side apartment, far from being a multimillion-dollar property, is also reportedly a rent-stabilized unit.
Meanwhile, the ‘Grafstein Diamond Corporation’ appears to have been little more than a modest family business, not the source of great wealth it was portrayed to be.
Even Grafstein’s titles – she was often referred to as ‘Lady Betty Grafstein DBE’ – have been called into question.
It’s now alleged that her ‘dameship’ came not from Queen Elizabeth, but from a Catholic chivalric order with no official royal recognition.
Despite the allegations and revelations, Castelo Branco maintains that his love for Grafstein is genuine.
‘For me she is everything. My sister, my mother, my wife. We have a complicity, like two souls in one,’ he insisted.
