Worker funds wedding with stolen money – then brags about ‘bonuses’ on TikTok, US feds say

Culp posted TikToks discussing what she bought, authorities said, while flaunting what she described as her ‘work bonuses’. — AP

While working for a life insurance company, an Iowa woman managed to steal US$273,698 (RM1.21mil) over 36 fraudulent transactions, according to federal prosecutors. Then authorities said she posted videos to TikTok bragging about what she was able to purchase with those stolen funds.

Jordyn Darion Culp, of Dallas Center, “stole life insurance proceeds from minor children of deceased federal employees and treated their trust accounts as her personal piggy bank,” prosecutors said in court records.

Now the 28-year-old woman has been sentenced to 18 months in prison, according to a Feb 22 news release from the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa. She’s also been ordered to pay back US$273,698 (RM1.21mil) and spend three years on supervised release following her time in prison.

The defense attorney representing Culp did not immediately respond to a request for comment from McClatchy News on Feb 23.

Authorities said Culp stole the money from about October 2019 to September 2021. She did so by accessing beneficiaries’ accounts with her employee number, then authorizing payments to herself, according to the government’s sentencing memorandum.

Culp then transferred the money to her personal bank account, prosecutors said.

With the illegally-obtained money, officials said she went on shopping trips, funded her fiance’s car racing hobby, ordered subscription boxes and paid for other “non-essential” items. She also used the funds to pay for her wedding ceremony and reception, according to court records.

Culp posted TikToks discussing what she bought, authorities said, while flaunting what she described as her “work bonuses”.

Dallas Center is about 30 miles northwest of Des Moines. – The Charlotte Observer/Tribune News Service