SantaCon founder ‘splashed charity donations’ in Las Vegas and luxury homes

SantaCon artist: Stefan Pildes stands accused of donating a tiny fraction of the millions raised for charity (Picture: AP)

The founder of SantaCon appears to be more Scrooge than jolly St Nick after being arrested for siphoning off charity money from his event, which sees thousands of rowdy Santas descend on New York.

Organiser Stefan Pildes, 50, is accused of splashing hundreds of thousands of dollars on luxury apartments even renovating a lakeside property in his native New Jersey.

Authorities said Pildes siphoned more than half of the $2.7million proceeds raised each year to an entity he controlled, using those funds to finance various personal ventures.

He’s also accused of spending thousands to pay for concert tickets, luxury vacations in Hawaii and Las Vegas, extravagant mea...