NGO "Paidiká Chará": How €4.5 million in donations ended up in suites and champagne
Conversations between 37-year-old chairman K. Firinidis and parents of sick children reveal how millions in donations were squandered on luxury.
Fraud through fundraisers for sick children: The conversations that "burn" the NGO chairman
The case of the NGO allegedly deceiving families of children with serious illnesses is taking on serious dimensions, according to To Vima. The 37-year-old Konstantinos Firinidis and his 35-year-old wife face charges for felonious acts after a police investigation discovered more than €4.5 million in personal accounts originating from online fundraisers.
Conversations with parents
Excerpts from conversations that have come into the hands of investigators starkly illustrate the couple's double life. Whilst Firinidis reassured parents watching their children suffer, he simultaneously spoke with hotels about bookings for suites.
In a conversation with the father of a sick child, the 37-year-old stated: "Now listen, whatever we can collect we will collect, don't have dreams of 50 or 40 thousand, whatever we can do we will do to help you." The father responded: "Chairman, honestly the money just goes like water." And Firinidis replied: "I know, but it's fine. We can't work miracles either."
At the same time, in communication with a hotel employee, the same person requested: "I would like a suite with a view of the garden." The employee mentioned a price of €487, and the response was: "Great, I'll definitely come. Is there any chance I could pay in cash?"
Donations directly to personal account
According to the police investigation, the 37-year-old was in the habit of registering his own bank accounts as recipients of fundraisers. A total of more than €4.5 million accumulated in these accounts. Two banks closed three of his accounts because he could not justify the origin of the funds.
Characteristic is his conversation with his wife: "I'm sitting and looking at the transactions now. I'm going to sit down and count them all, one by one," said the 37-year-old. "Yes my love, count them," she replied. And Firinidis: "I'm shocked. We've spent thousands over just a few days. Well, let's calm down a bit."
Whilst the couple "calmed down" with champagne and cigars at luxury resorts, the families who had placed their hopes in the organisation's assistance waited without result. The family of 15-year-old Christos, who suffers from a serious neurological condition, received not a single euro from the €73,200 that had been collected in his name.
Absolute audacity even when suspicions began
A father described how Firinidis arbitrarily stopped a fundraiser that had already collected €42,000, when the family's request was approximately €95,000: "He tells me, 'I believe it is a failure'. I don't want us to look like failures as an NGO. He tells me, 'You won't react. You will listen to what I'm saying because you need me'."
Greed knew no bounds. In a conversation with a mother of a child, the 35-year-old wife refused to stop a fundraiser that had already reached €21,900 — an amount satisfactory to the mother: "We can continue. We want to collect €30,000. We will also approach recognised individuals," stated the 35-year-old.
Even when their ostentatious lifestyle began to raise suspicions, Firinidis gave instructions on how to handle questions: "Don't you mention the organisation. Say, he has cars, he has these, he has one thing, he has another. Don't focus only on that. Say, you know, he has businesses."
The NGO was not even registered in the register
The organisation was not registered in the NGO register of the Ministry of Interior, a fact which meant it operated outside every institutional control. As a result, dozens of families and hundreds of thousands of donors were defrauded.
Vasilis Lampropoulos, police reporter for To Vima and "Nea", revealed that the head of the Authority for Money Laundering Prevention had already sounded the alarm — in writing, two years ago — warning that NGOs could be used as a vehicle for fraud. This particular organisation, however, was not inspected, because it had declared its purpose as providing food assistance to poor children abroad — and the service in which it was registered operated under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which had already closed in 2015.
Lampropoulos stated that the same service had registered other organisations with activities in Albania, Moldova, Cuba, Sri Lanka, Bosnia, Armenia and Syria, as well as demining initiatives in the Balkans. For none of these, according to him, was there any substantive inspection, whilst the required licence from the Ministry of Family Cohesion for conducting fundraisers had not been granted.
The six arrested are brought before the investigating judge
The six arrested are expected to appear before the investigating judge on the coming Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, to answer the felonious charges brought against them.
Source: To Vima