New York —
The organizer of SantaCon, an annual bar crawl where attendees dress up as Santa Claus, was arrested and charged with stealing more than $1 million intended for charity.
Federal prosecutors allege that from 2019 to April 2026 Stefan Pildes, the organizer of SantaCon, defrauded tens of thousands of ticket-buying revelers and venue operators by promising proceeds would go to charities but instead used more than half of the money raised to line his pockets.
Over that seven-year period authorities allege SantaCon brought in $2.7
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