WhatsApp doll? 'Remote control' mayor on the run

01 September 2015 - 02:03 By ©The Daily Telegraph

A mayor in Brazil has gone on the run after she was accused of stealing funds, and found to be running her town via WhatsApp - 240km away. Lidiane Leite, 25, boasted on social media about how she had embraced a luxurious lifestyle after becoming mayor of Bom Jardim - one of the poorest municipalities in Brazil. She was elected after her then-husband, Beto Rocha, was barred from running for mayor in 2012 for alleged corruption."Before I was mayor I was poor, and had a Land Rover," she wrote on Instagram."Now I'm in a Toyota SW4. I should have bought a better car, because, thanks to God, money is no longer a problem."The social media site was filled with images of her drinking champagne at parties, posing with her personal trainer, or frolicking on jet-skis with her friends.But it all came crashing down on Thursday, when an arrest warrant was issued. Police found evidence that some $4-million in funds for Bom Jardim's schools went missing. The town's education system has collapsed, and teachers are not being paid.Furthermore, she was said to have been living in Sao Luis, a coastal town in between Belem and Fortaleza in northern Brazil, and running her cabinet via WhatsApp.Leite has not been seen since.The local newspaper, Maranhao da Gente, said: "The lawyers are saying the mayor of Bom Jardin could be arrested at any moment.""She was too young and inexperienced when she took office," said her lawyer, Carlos Barros. ..

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