After seeing photos of a desperate Greek man crying on a sidewalk, one Australian businessman is putting his money where his mouth is and flying thousands of miles to offer help.

Like many Greeks living far away from the mother country, James Koufos’ Facebook newsfeed was full of news and photos coming out of Greece. One photo, that of Giorgos Chatzifotiadis, a 77-year-old pensioner who collapsed from despair outside a Greek bank while waiting in line for his 120 euro pension allocation, caught Koufos’ attention— and made him act.

Images of the elderly man weeping on the pavement and being helped to his feet by a policeman and another man dressed in a suit went viral on line.

He sent out a plea to his friends on Facebook to help identify the man.

‘Seeing those photos, it really hit me… I got very emotional,’ Mr Koufos told Daily Mail Australia.

In a twist to the story— the old man wasn’t a stranger after all, but an old family friend. The retiree ended up being an old school friend of Koufos’ late father.

‘I live a relatively comfortable life here in Sydney – to see someone who has worked hard his entire life and can’t even get a pension to feed his wife and family, that’s not right.’

Koufos and his company, GAP Finance will cover the man’s pension for 12 months— or as long as it takes.