Former administrative assistant Kristen Marie Battocletti, 35, pleaded guilty to embezzling around $300,000 from an Alabama Catholic church to cover gifts for TikTok content creators and personal expenses. She entered her plea to one count of wire fraud in federal court in Tuscaloosa. Court documents revealed that from April 2023 to October 2023, Battocletti engaged in a scheme to defraud the church by making unauthorized transactions totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars. She used the stolen money to purchase over $220,000 in TikTok digital coins for gifts to content creators and to pay for personal expenses. Battocletti faces up to 20 years in prison on the wire fraud charge, along with three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. Her sentencing is scheduled for November 26. U.S. Attorney Prim Escalona for the Northern District of Alabama announced Battocletti’s indictment, which detailed more than 600 unauthorized transactions she initiated as part of the scheme. The embezzlement highlights the serious consequences of financial fraud and theft, particularly in a religious organization.
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