Brazilian mayor accused of living 170 miles away and running town through WhatsApp

Authorities in Brazil are searching for a mayor accused of stealing funds from schools and running her town via a mobile messenger app.

Prosecutors say that instead of living in Bom Jardim, Lidiane Leite, 25, resided 170 miles away in Sao Luis, the capital of Maranhao state. They say Leite — who was elected after her then-boyfriend, Beto Rocha, was barred from running for mayor in 2012 for alleged corruption — would use WhatsApp to check in with her cabinet, running the town's affairs remotely.

Leite took off when she was mentioned as part of Operation Eden, which discovered that $4 million earmarked for Bom Jardim's school was gone, the BBC reports. Bom Jardim is in one of the country's poorest states, and teachers in the town now aren't being paid. An arrest warrant was issued Thursday, and the town's new mayor was sworn in Saturday, promising to support a full investigation into the missing money. Leite's attorney, Carlos Barros, denies that his client did anything wrong. "She was too young and inexperienced when she took office," he said. "She lacked confidence and delegated many tasks to Mr. Rocha."

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