Greek charity 'Paidiki Chara' couple accused of diverting over 3.5 million euros from donations for sick children

Charges and detentions

The founder of the NGO Paidiki Chara, a 37-year-old man named in the reporting as Konstantinos Firinidis, and his 35-year-old partner, Vasiliki Manisioti, have been remanded in custody after their testimony. Prosecutors have brought felony charges against them since Saturday, covering fraud committed jointly and repeatedly, embezzlement, and money laundering, according to the reports. Firinidis was expected to give his own testimony on Thursday.

In her testimony, the 35-year-old woman placed responsibility for the missing sums on Firinidis and described him as addicted to gambling. Her account, as relayed by the media, was disputed by the case file's other evidence, and the couple's lawyers have not been quoted in the sources.

How the donations were collected

According to reports citing a Alpha TV broadcast, the 35-year-old visited paediatric oncology hospitals and approached families she judged to be the most financially vulnerable. She reportedly told parents she knew an organisation that could help, and asked families to sign statements agreeing that all money raised would be handed over to them. Parents were reportedly told to change their children's name and phone details in some cases.

A father described repeated pressure from the founder when he asked about the donations. Bank records seen by the Live News programme show that the NGO declared no income in 2018 and 2019, and reported 547,000 euros in income and matching expenses in 2021, 894,000 in 2022 and 923,000 in 2023.

Lifestyle and money trail

Police seized five Louis Vuitton bags, two wallets from the same house, a Karl Lagerfeld bag, a Christian Dior bag and a Rolex from the couple's home. The woman said in her testimony that she had bought only one bag. The couple made withdrawals of more than 3.5 million euros from the NGO's donation accounts over the years, and 300,000 euros was found in a Luxembourg bank account.

“Stathis Schizas said the NGO's founder had asked him to visit a nightclub he had opened.”

Wider reaction

Television entrepreneur Stathis Schizas told the Live News programme that he had shared the NGO's appeals on his social media accounts in 2023 and had exchanged messages with Firinidis. He said the group had quickly paid a family 4,000 euros after contact, and he called its leaders racketeers.

20203,964

2021547,000

2022894,000

2023923,000

2020

3964 euros

2021

547000 euros

2022

894000 euros

2023

923000 euros

Data from the article text