Caritas prospered with the help of the connection it had with the nationalist Romanian National Unity Party (PUNR) and the mayor of Cluj-Napoca, Gheorghe Funar, who welcomed this scheme and even helped it build credibility by renting them space in the Cluj town hall, appearing with Stoica in public and on television, and defending Caritas from attacks. Funar paid for space in the local newspaper to publish a list of the "winners" who would see their money multiply eightfold; the list was 44 pages per day less than a month before the scheme collapsed.