NEW YORK (AP) — The annual SantaCon bar crawl that floods New York City with inebriated young people in Santa suits every holiday season was run by a real-life Grinch, according to federal prosecutors.
Event organizer Stefan Pildes was arrested Wednesday on charges that he pocketed the majority of the $2.7 million supposedly raised for charity through SantaCon events from 2019 to 2024.
Money that was supposed to be divided among neighborhood charities was instead used to renovate a lakefront property in New Jersey, buy concert tickets, pay for his fancy car, and finance extravagant meals and luxury vacations in Hawaii and Las Vegas, according to an indictment.
Pildes, 50, of Hewitt, New Jersey, didn’t respond to shouted questions as he left a Manhattan courthouse following an appearance on a wire fraud charge.
AP AUDIO: Popular NYC SantaCon charity fundraiser was more con than Claus,…
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