NYC SantaCon founder stole charity money to lavish way of life: Feds – NBC New York

A preferred SantaCon charity fundraiser that floods New York City with 1000’s of inebriated younger individuals in purple and white Santa costumes each vacation season was true to its identify: a con, federal authorities mentioned after they arrested its organizer.

Stefan Pildes, 50, of Hewitt, New Jersey, was arrested on Wednesday. He didn’t remark after an preliminary court docket look on a wire fraud cost and was freed on $300,000 bail.

Federal authorities mentioned Pildes donated solely a small fraction of the $2.7 million he raised by way of SantaCon charity occasions from 2019 to 2024. The custom contains a ticketed bar crawl by way of metropolis streets every December that has attracted over 25,000 individuals.

Widely reviled by many New York residents for the chaos it brings to metropolis streets and subways, the annual bacchanal attracts giant throngs of costumed merrymakers to Manhattan’s streets and watering holes yearly, with most individuals dressed as Saint Nick, although there are normally a couple of Mrs. Clauses, elves and the occasional Grinch.

The individuals paid $10 to $20 for tickets after Pildes informed them their cash could be divided amongst neighborhood charities and that they may “brag that (they) actually gave to charity this year” in keeping with the indictment.

The occasion traces its origins to a 1994 flash mob-style occasion in San Francisco dubbed “Santarchy,” meant to mock Christmas consumerism. As the concept unfold to cities nationwide, it moved away from its countercultural origins and have become extra of a mass bar crawl.

The New York City model is now promoted as “a charitable, non-political, nonsensical Santa Claus convention.”

Authorities mentioned Pildes siphoned greater than half of the proceeds raised annually to an entity he managed, utilizing these funds to finance varied private ventures.

He’s accused of spending a whole bunch of 1000’s of {dollars} of the remaining income to fund the renovation of a lakefront property in New Jersey and to pay for live performance tickets, luxurious holidays in Hawaii and Las Vegas, extravagant meals, dwelling renovations and a luxurious car.

Money supposedly destined for charities, the federal government alleged, was as a substitute spent on over $365,000 in lakefront property renovations in New Jersey, $124,000 on leasing a luxurious Manhattan house, a $100,000 funding in a boutique resort in Costa Rica based by a private good friend and an almost $3,000 birthday dinner at a Michelin-starred restaurant in Manhattan.

According to an indictment, Pildes claimed he acquired no compensation from the occasion.

“No producer received income from this event, this is a charity event,” the indictment alleges he wrote in a March 2023 e-mail to a possible venue.

“Instead of donating the thousands and thousands of {dollars} he raised, he ran his personal con sport,” U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton mentioned in a information launch.

Pildes was president of and managed Participatory Safety Inc., the nonprofit entity that organized SantaCon, authorities mentioned.

According to the indictment, he solicited dozens of bars and eating places to take part and donate 10% to 25% of their meals and beverage gross sales to his charity group.