Feds Accuse SantaCon Founder of Running Charity Con

The man who organizes the annual SantaCon bar crawl in New York City is a con artist, federal prosecutors allege.Stefan Pildes is facing wire fraud charges after he was arrested Wednesday in Manhattan.Prosecutors claim that Mr. Pildes defrauded tens of thousands of individuals and small business owners who participated in the popular, Christmas-themed event over the past several years.About 25,000 people take part in SantaCon, the annual ticketed bar crawl. Attendees dress as Santa Claus and other holiday characters and travel to participating bars and restaurants throughout the day. Mr. Pildes, who runs the nonprofit, is accused of pocketing most of the money raised by the organization for his own use.“Pildes allegedly stole Christmas from tens of thousands of victims and deprived local charities of more than one million dollars,” the FBI assistant director in charge, James C. Barnacle, Jr., said in a release. “The FBI continues to root out scrooges that greedily exploit the goodwill of New Yorkers.”The SantaCon website advertised the event as a “charitable, non-political, nonsensical Santa Claus convention” and said proceeds from ticket sales would be distributed to various charities. Venues that were signed up as official stops on the SantaCon route agreed to give the nonprofit, called Participatory Safety, Inc., between 10 and 20 percent of their food and beverage sales during the event as a “charitable commission” or “donation,” prosecutors allege.The prosecutors say that SantaCon events from 2019 to 2024 generated approximately $2.7 million in proceeds, but Mr. Pildes donated only a fraction of the money to charities.The proceeds paid for “extensive” renovations to a lakefront property in New Jersey, concert tickets, luxury vacations, extravagant meals, and a luxury vehicle, prosecutors said. Mr. Pildes had reported that he did not receive any compensation from the event.Examples of the spending that were detailed in the seven-page indictment include more than $365,000 for the renovation project, approximately $124,000 toward the lease of a luxury Manhattan apartment, a $100,000 investment in a resort in Costa Rica allegedly founded by a friend, and nearly $3,000 for a birthday dinner at a Michelin-starred restaurant in Manhattan.SantaCon started as a small event with a few hundred participants. Early years brought complaints of young drunken revelers throwing up in the street and brawling. The NYPD now monitors the event and reminds participants not to violate open container laws. Commuter railroads into the city also ban alcoholic drinks on their trains during the event.Mr. Pildes was expected to appear in court on Wednesday. It was not clear whether he had a lawyer. He faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison if convicted on the wire fraud charge.The office of the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York is prosecuting the case.An email to Participatory Safety, Inc. seeking comment was not immediately returned.

Feds Accuse SantaCon Founder of Running Charity Con

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