Nearly 600 illegal transactions: she steals 276,000 euros from her church to offer gifts to her favorite influencers on TikTok

En 2023 en France, 80 millions d’euros ont été dépensés dans l’achat de jetons électroniques TikTok. imageBROKER.com – imageBROKER/David Talukdar

A 35-year-old woman pleaded guilty on July 23, 2024, to stealing approximately $300,000 from a parish in Alabama (United States), or €276,000, with which she gave hundreds of gifts to TikTokers.

The young woman who worked as an administrative assistant at the Saint Francis of Assisi University Parish in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States, stole nearly €276,000, reports Al.com.

She extorted this money by setting up a fraud within her church, between April and October 2023.

No fewer than 600 illegal transactions

The 35-year-old former assistant then bought $220,000 (€202,345) worth of TikTok electronic tokens, almost the entire amount stolen. According to police sources, this money transformed into tokens was used to give gifts to several influencers on the TikTok network.

In total, no less than 600 illegal transactions were carried out by this American. The rest would have been used for her personal expenses.

She risks a 20-year prison sentence

These electronic tokens, TikTok Coins, allow you to send virtual donations to influencers, indicates BFMTV. In France, nearly 80 million euros were spent in 2023 to purchase these tokens, according to data from Data.ai.

Accused of electronic fraud, the thirty-year-old pleaded guilty. She faces a prison sentence of up to 20 years and a fine of $250,000, or about €230,000.