Photo from 20924 by Stacie Joy
See update below.
First posted on 4/15
------
Is this the "con" in SantaCon?
The president of SantaCon was arrested today on federal charges accusing him of diverting hundreds of thousands of dollars meant for charity to personal expenses, according to CNBC.
Prosecutors allege that Stefan Pildes used funds from the ticketed holiday bar crawl, which claims to raise money for charity, for a range of purchases, including home renovations, luxury vacations, and a Manhattan apartment.
According to the indictment, only a small portion of the roughly $2.7 million raised through SantaCon was donated to charity.
A Gothamist analysis from 2023 found that "the organization raised $1.4 million through SantaCon programming from late 2014 through the end of 2022, and that less than a fifth of that money has gone to registered nonprofits."
Updated 4/17
The FBI released a bulletin saying they are "seeking victim information in SantaCon investigation."
Per the bulletin:
The FBI's New York Division is seeking to identify potential victims of Stefan Pildes, who organized and operated the annual SantaCon event in New York City, from at least 2019 to present. Pildes was recently charged with wire fraud. The FBI believes Pildes primarily targeted SantaCon attendees who purchased tickets to the event, as well as bars that participated in the event, between the timeframe of October 2019 to present.
Find more info here.
Absolutely no surprise there. They should have audited him on a yearly basis.
ReplyDeleteshocking!!
ReplyDeleteSHOCKER!!
ReplyDeleteGood riddance. Screw that guy, and screw SantaCon. What a fucking nuisance.
ReplyDeleteso surprised 🙄
ReplyDeleteOnly the Trump family can get away with this
ReplyDeleteMaybe some corporate interest can buy the rights going forward. Sanitize and corporatize the life out of this shit already. It's what it deserves.
ReplyDeleteSure. In Brooklyn or somewhere else.
Deletedoes santa deliver lumps of coal to prisons? asking for a ... lol ...
ReplyDeleteShould we assume that will be the end of Santacon?
ReplyDeleteOh, I wish—but they'll come back stronger.
DeleteTHAT'S ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS
DeleteIn this environment? Throw in a few sexual assault charges and he could run for office. It would be good to be rid of him and his ill-behaved followers for sure.
ReplyDeletePerhaps Christmas will arrive early this year with the hopeful news of its subsequent, indefinite closure. Good riddance to the grift and utter annoyance of this massively stupid phenomenon.
ReplyDeleteAgreed!
DeleteAs a good friend of mine who was interviewed by Fox News several years called it a "Bromageddon".
ReplyDeleteSanta CON. Seems apropos.
ReplyDeleteHow no one ever thought of that!
Deletefinally the axe falls on the king of the lemings!!
ReplyDeleteSo the charity was conned by him, doesn't make santacon itself a con job.
ReplyDeleteThe jig is up. For the love of humanity, no more Santa CON.
ReplyDeleteA lot of nonprofits do little or nothing for anybody.
ReplyDeleteThe NY Daily News article ended with this. Sorta sums it all up:
ReplyDelete"The booze-fueled revelry draws at least 25,000 attendees each December to the ire of many New Yorkers disgusted by inebriated St. Nicks vomiting and urinating in the streets."
Here's hoping that this is truly the end of this CF/shit show.
well at least the bars got paid
ReplyDeleteTalk about Santa Con...Ironic... Hmmm
ReplyDeleteAs a New Yorker, I cannot put into words how much I detest this day. It needs to be abolished. You want to dress up as Santa and wreak havoc on poor souls with lewd drunkenness, do it in the privacy of your own apartment, and leave the rest of us alone. Hope this d-bag is brought to justice for his greed.
ReplyDeletebut but but charity! lol
ReplyDelete