Brooklyn Preschool Director Pleads Guilty to $2.8 Million Theft

(Bloomberg) — The former principal of a private preschool in Brooklyn’s Park Slope neighborhood has pleaded guilty to stealing more than $2.75 million in tuition fees, which she spent on luxury items, first-class travel and, most importantly, tickets to professional wrestling events.

Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. Murielle Misczak, 43, a Swiss citizen, faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, she said Thursday. He was charged in March and released on bail while awaiting sentencing at a later date.

“My client pleaded guilty today and accepts responsibility for what she did,” attorney Lowell Sidney, the defense attorney who described Misczak as a single mother of three children, said in a telephone interview.

Prosecutors did not identify the kindergarten, but Misczak was previously the manager of KinderHaus, which offered German immersion programs and charged tuition fees of up to $4,450 a month, according to its website. KinderHaus filed a lawsuit against Misczak last year for alleged theft.

Misczak “took advantage of his access to bank accounts for the daycare to line his own pockets and steal millions in tuition fees to fund trips to World Wrestling Entertainment events, among other personal expenses,” Nocella said in a statement, adding that Misczak faces $2.8 million in damages.

The school stated in its lawsuit that Misczak was hired in 2013 and received a salary of $40,000 in 2025. KinderHaus said it began documenting Misczak’s lavish spending on social media despite his modest income, with posts showing him enjoying “luxury resorts” and first-class travel.

Misczak took a particular interest in professional wrestling and spent more than $350,000 on tickets to wrestling events, according to prosecutors. They claim he spent $150,000 on rideshares, another $150,000 on food deliveries and hundreds of thousands more on luxury goods.

Prosecutors said Misczak concealed his theft by deleting and altering information in the preschool’s accounting system.

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