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RED CROSS

Red Cross boss quits after scandal

The head of the troubled Swedish branch of the Red Cross has quit his post. General Secretary Christer Zettergren said his decision to leave the charity had nothing to do with a fraud case currently engulfing the organization.

Red Cross boss quits after scandal

Zettergren’s resignation comes as the Swedish Red Cross’s former fundraising manager Johan af Donner awaits the verdict in his high-profile fraud trial. He is accused of defrauding the charity of 5.2 million kronor and siphoning another 2.5 million kronor from the Swedish Cancer Society (Cancerfonden), his previous employer.

But Zettergren insisted that his resignation had nothing to do with the af Donner affair, saying that he had already decided to quit in 2008, but stayed in his post longer than planned to guide the charity through the turbulence caused by the fraud accusations.

“The fraud meant that [my tenure] was extended a bit, as I wanted to stay and ensure that it led to charges and a trial. That was important for me,” he said.

The af Donner affair has brought criticism of Zettergren’s leadership. He has been accused of not successfully tackling the public relations disaster caused by the revelations. His own high salary and that of chairman Bengt Westerberg have also come in for criticism.

Zettergren has been recruited by the Swedish Migration Board as a special advisor in research and development issues.

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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.

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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