The Eastern District of New York courthouse in Brooklyn, March 2026.
Photo by Nina Pullano
The former director of a pricey Park Slope daycare was arrested and released to home detention Wednesday after pleading not guilty to embezzling millions from the childcare center and preschool, and spending the spoils on, among other things, professional wrestling tickets that cost $350,000.
Murielle Misczak, a 43-year-old Swiss national, was the director of KinderHaus Brooklyn, a German immersion preschool. She faces wire fraud and money laundering counts for conduct prosecutors say took place over four years, namely directing parents to pay into unapproved accounts she controlled. Misczak then transferred the funds to her personal accounts, prosecutors say, and deleted the daycare’s accounting data to cover it up.
Her expenditures included $600,000 toward travel and entertainment, including the tickets, and hundreds of thousands on luxury personal goods and expenses, like food delivery and rideshares, according to prosecutors.
The charges carry up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
Murielle Misczak stands accused of stealing $2.75 million from the Park Slope daycare she directed.Photo via KinderHaus Brooklyn
U.S. Magistrate Judge Peggy Kuo of the Eastern District of New York released Misczak Wednesday on an unsecured $200,000 bond. The defendant appeared in court wearing a gray sweatshirt with a colorful graphic that said “MOTHER” in all caps.
Government attorneys said they believe Misczak has spent all the money she allegedly stole from the daycare, putting $1 million toward travel and entertainment that can’t be regained; $150,000 on rideshares; $150,000 on food delivery; and another $1 million that’s unaccounted for.
Prosecutors didn’t seek to detain the mother of three, who will be held in home detention with GPS monitoring and a curfew that allows her to shop for the children and take the younger two to elementary school. Her eldest child is homeschooled.
Defense attorney Lowell Sidney represents Misczak and appeared in court Wednesday.
“At this early stage, we are focused on the presumption of innocence and reviewing the government’s evidence,” Sidney told reporters following the hearing.
Misczak is accused of stealing payments between January 2022 and October 2025. She had been an employee since 2013, court filings say.
Joseph Nocella Jr., U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said in a statement that Misczak had “abused her position of authority and betrayed the trust of her employer and daycare families by stealing millions in tuition to fund her own extravagant personal lifestyle.”
Civil charges
In addition to the criminal charges she now faces, Misczak was already up against a civil suit filed by KinderHaus in December. It accuses her of fraud, conversion, unjust enrichment and identity theft, among other counts.
According to the complaint, the daycare’s principal, Simona D’Souza, confronted Misczak in October 2025 about money that had been diverted to PayPal accounts controlled by Misczak, who was paid about $40,000 per year.
The center’s tuition varies, but can cost around $3,000 per month for 5-day care, according to its website.
Misczak denied responsibility, the complaint says, and “falsely claimed that she was the beneficiary of substantial funds from her mother in Basel, Switzerland.”
After that Misczak was fired. She now has until the end of April to evacuate two apartments she was renting at reduced rates from the daycare center.
According to a now-unpublished bio on the KinderHaus Brooklyn website, Misczak helped to shape the “growth and vision” of the school and has degrees in international social work, public health nursing and social management.