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CHARITY

Swedish generosity on the rise

Swedes have become all the more generous despite – or perhaps because of – the economic crisis.

Published: 21 December 2009 07:58 CET

The total amount donated in to charity 2009 will be around 5.2 billion kronor ($715 million), almost as much as in 2005, the year following the tsunami, reports financial daily Dagens Industri (DI).

“Becoming involved with charitable causes goes with the spirit of the times. In addition, the population has benefited from lowered taxes and record-low interest rates,” Erik Zachrison, general secretary of the Swedish Fundraising Council (Frivilligorganisationernas Insamlingsråd) told DI.

The organisations that received the most money were the Swedish Cancer Society (Cancerfonden), followed by Unicef Sweden and Save the Children (Rädda Barnen). Ninety to 95 percent of charitable contributions were made by private individuals.

In 2008, donations totaled 5 billion kronor.

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HEALTH

Spain’s ‘2,000-tumour man’ sentenced for scamming donors

A Spaniard known as "the man with 2,000 tumours" who lied about having terminal cancer was handed a two-year jail term Monday for scamming donations from thousands, including celebrities.

Published: 8 February 2021 15:46 CET
Spain's '2,000-tumour man' sentenced for scamming donors
De Cedecejj - Trabajo propio, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=99402644

Paco Sanz, 50, appeared regularly on television and social media between 2010 and 2017, claiming to have nearly 2,000 tumours as a result of Cowden syndrome.

Saying he had only months to live, he appealed for donations via his web page, through text messages and even a charity gala.   

Although he did suffer from the syndrome, all his tumours were benign and posed no threat to his life.

Prosecutors say the former security guard collected just under €265,000 ($319,000) before being arrested in March 2017 in the eastern Valencia region.   

Among those who sent him money were popular television presenter Jorge Javier Vazquez and Spanish footballer Alvaro Negredo.    

Prosecutors accused Sanz of “taking advantage of his illness” to “obtain illegal funding”.

They said he presented the disease as being “much more serious than it really was” and of falsely claiming he could only be saved if he got experimental treatment in the United States.   

In reality, he travelled to the US to take part in a free clinical trial and “all his costs were covered” by the firm running it, prosecutors added.    

In video obtained by Spanish media at the time of his arrest, Sanz could be seen joking with his girlfriend and family members about the lies he was telling.

As his trial opened in Madrid on Monday, Sanz pleaded guilty to fraud, receiving a two-year jail sentence, while his girlfriend was sentenced to a year and nine months for being his accomplice.

But they are not likely to serve time behind bars, as sentences below two years are usually suspended in Spain for first-time offenders convicted of non-violent crimes.

The trial will continue so the court can determine how much money the pair owe in damages.

READ ALSO: Fraudster parents of sick girl jailed for charity scam

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