Thousands of revelers dressed as Santa Claus and other famous characters take part in the annual SantaCon pub crawl on Saturday, December 13, 2025 in New York City, United States.
Selçuk Acre Anadolu | getty images
Chairman of Santacon was arrested on Wednesday federal criminal charges He has been accused of using hundreds of thousands of dollars earmarked for charity from a ticketed Christmas bar-crawl event in New York City for personal use, federal prosecutors said.
The defendant, Stephen Pildes, who claimed he received no compensation from SantaCon, allegedly spent the money on extensive renovations of a lakeside property in New Jersey, luxury vacations to Hawaii, Las Vegas and Vail, Colorado, concert tickets, lavish meals and a luxury vehicle, according to the indictment filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
The indictment says approximately $124,000 of the SantaCon funds were spent to lease a luxury apartment in Manhattan, and another $100,000 was invested in a boutique resort founded by a friend of Pildes’ in Costa Rica.
According to the indictment against him, Pildes donated “only a small fraction” of the approximately $2.7 million raised at SantaCon.
Pildes, 50, “promoted SantaCon as an event based on charitable donations, but instead of donating the millions of dollars he raised, he ran his own fraudulent game,” U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said in a statement.
“He financed his lifestyle through large-scale personal spending, taking advantage of New Yorkers’ generous holiday spirit,” Clayton said.
Prosecutors said Pildes raised at least $2.7 million for charity from 2019 to 2024, but diverted more than half of that money “to a worthless fund.”
A resident of Hewitt, NJ has been charged with one count of wire fraud. He is expected to appear in Manhattan federal court on Wednesday afternoon.
Prosecutors said he defrauded thousands of individuals and small business owners attending “SantaCon,” which annually attracts about 25,000 people dressed as Santa Claus and other holiday characters to New York City bars and restaurants. Tickets for the event cost between $10 and $20.
Prosecutors said Pildes worked with SantaCon, Participatory Safety, Inc. Served as president of the non-profit entity that organized and controlled the organization.
The indictment against him states that attendees were told that the proceeds from SantaCon would go to various charities. In December 2024, the indictment said, Pildes said on its website that ticket money “went directly to Santa’s charity drive,” and “your money will be divided between the various charities listed on this page as well as local charities on Santa’s route.”
James Barnacle, Jr., Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s New York Field Office, said that Pildes “allegedly stole Christmas from thousands of victims and defrauded local charities of more than a million dollars.”
“The FBI continues to root out criminals who greedily exploit the goodwill of New Yorkers,” Barnacle said in a statement.
An attorney for Pildes did not immediately respond to a request for comment.