SantaCon Founder Charged With Fraud Tied to NYC Bar Crawl

People dressed as Santa Claus during the annual SantaCon event at the South Street Seaport in New York City. 

Photographer: Allison Joyce/Getty Images

SantaCon may have been a con.

Stefan Pildes, the founder and organizer of New York’s annual Christmas-themed bar crawl, was arrested Wednesday on charges that he stole more than half of the $2.7 million SantaCon raised since 2019, despite reassuring participants and business owners that it was all for charity.