The director of a swanky Brooklyn day care diverted more than $2.8 million in tuition payments into her own accounts, then used that money for luxury goods and more than $350,000 worth of tickets to WWE wrestling events, federal prosecutors allege.
Murielle Misczak, 43, a Swiss citizen living in Brooklyn, became the day care director of KinderHaus in Park Slope in 2020, after working at the German-language preschool as a program coordinator for several years, according to court filings. She was arrested Wednesday on a federal wire fraud and money laundering indictment in Brooklyn.
The school changed its billing methods in 2020 to make parents use electronic bank deposits instead of credit cards. But starting in 2022, unbeknown to the school administration, Misczak set up an alternative payment method through PayPal so parents could use their cards again, according to the indictment and a civil suit filed by KinderHaus against Misczak in December.
What the parents didn’t know was they were sending their money directly into Misczak’s accounts. And because she had control over the school’s computer and accounting systems, she was able to cover her tracks for years, according to the feds.
She manipulated the school computer systems to make it look like all the payments had been deposited into the day care’s bank account, and directed emails with evidence of what she was doing into a spam folder before deleting them, the feds allege. She hid what she was doing from the day care staff and discouraged them from reaching out to the place’s owner and founder without her present, according to the feds.
The scheme fell apart in October, according to the civil suit, after KinderHaus’ principal needed to use her own personal savings to cover payroll.
When the principal noticed the PayPal activity, she confronted Misczak, who denied responsibility, then had a criminal lawyer reach out and insist the school had the “wrong person,” the lawsuit alleges.
Federal prosecutors found the director spent the money on more than $650,000 for travel and entertainment, including more than $350,000 on tickets to pro wrestling events, as well as more than $150,000 on ride-share services, another $150,000 on food delivery and hundreds of thousands on “high-end luxury goods and other miscellaneous personal expenses,” according to the criminal indictment.
“As alleged, Misczak abused her position of authority and betrayed the trust of her employer and day care families by stealing millions in tuition to fund her own extravagant personal lifestyle,” U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella said Wednesday.
Though the school is not named in the criminal complaint, the details in it line up with KinderHaus’s lawsuit against Misczak, and a law enforcement source confirmed the day care as the preschool involved.
KinderHaus, which serves children ages 1 to kindergarten, describes itself as “a full-day, year-round early education hub that is multilingual, globally connected, and grounded in research, play, and a deep respect for each child.” Annual tuition ranges from $17,201 for two days a week to $32,857 for five days, according to its website.
A now-deleted profile on KinderHaus’ web site describes Misczak as “an integral part of KinderHaus for nearly a decade, shaping its growth and vision” who “leads KinderHaus with both heart and experience.”
Misczak was ordered released on $200,000 bond with an ankle monitor and a home curfew.
“My client has entered a plea of not guilty and looks forward to a fair resolution of this matter,” said her defense lawyer, Lowell Sidney. “At this early stage, we are focused on the presumption of innocence and reviewing the government’s evidence.”
