Former Alabama church employee accused of stealing $300K, spending money on TikTok Coins

A woman was charged with one count of wire fraud this week after allegedly stealing about $300,000 from a Tuscaloosa church.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) – A former employee of an Alabama church was charged with one count of wire fraud this week after allegedly stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars — and spending much of it on TikTok.

Kristen Marie Battocletti, 35, defrauded the St. Francis of Assisi University Parish in Tuscaloosa of about $300,000 between April and October of 2023, according to accusations detailed by the U.S. Attorney's Office of the Northern District of Alabama.

Battocletti, a former administrative assistant at the church, is said to have used around $220,000 of the stolen money to buy TikTok Coins, a type of currency that TikTok users can utilize to send virtual "gifts" (i.e., tips) to their favorite video creators, who can in turn exchange the gifts for real currency.

"Battocletti used the TikTok Coins to send digital gifts to TikTok content creators," the Attorney's Office stated in a news release.

Battocletti is accused of using the rest of the money for "personal expenses," according to the release.

Battocletti is expected to plead guilty at an upcoming arraignment. She faces a possible sentence of 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine, per the district attorney.