It remains unclear at this point exactly how many donors sent their money to Relotius, as the magazine apparently wasn’t aware of his fundraising activities.
Claas Relotius, a former Der Spiegel journalist who recently admitted to falsifying reports and disseminating fake news, apparently also embezzled donations he collected from readers, according to the magazine.
At this time, it remains unclear exactly how many donors responded to the reporter’s call, as well as how much money was raised and what happened to it, as “the editors were not aware of Relotius’ fundraising campaign”.