A young Brazilian mayor has been accused of running her small impoverished town remotely via WhatsApp after she embezzled money from her community’s education funds to pay for a lavish lifestyle away from the poverty.
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Rocha himself tried to run for mayor in 2012 but his attempt was thwarted due to corruption charges against him. She stepped in to run for mayor in his place, and when she won, she appointed Rocha as her advisor, though the two broke up earlier this year. “Now I’m in a Toyota SW4. I should have bought a more luxurious auto because thank god the money is left”.
Lidiane Leite is accused of taking funds from the school system and running business via Whatsapp.
Her private Instagram account is said to boast pictures of her sipping on champagne at parties, posing with a personal trainer and riding on jet skis with friends, the Telegraph reported. However, just last week, Leite’s lawyer, Carlos Barros, says that his client’s disappearance was not planned, but rather a result of being scared.
Until recently, life was apparently going pretty well for Lidiane Leite, the 25-year-old year old mayor of Bom Jardim, Brazil.
A defence attorney, working for Leite in her abscence, claimed that she was simply too young for the role and had delegated many responsibilities to her more experienced boyfriend.
A state judge said he would seek an global arrest warrant if she does not hand herself in by Tuesday.
Ms Leite went on the run after her name was mentioned in a federal investigation on the misuse of state education funds. The Bom Jardim school system is now in disarray and teachers are not being paid.
Leite’s former deputy mayor has been sworn into office and has promised to carry out a full investigation of her dealings.
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“I can buy whatever I want, spend it how I like”, she allegedly bragged.
