Johnny Bobbitt, Kate McClure and Mark D’Amico.Photo: Burlington County Sheriff’s Office
GoFundMe has refunded donations made to a campaign that purported to help a homeless man but isnow accused of being fraudulent.
Johnny Bobbitt Jr., the homeless man, and Kate McClure and Mark D’Amico, a couple, allegedly conspired tospin the narrativethat Bobbitt spent his last $20 to pay for gas for McClure after her car broke down on Interstate 95 in Philadelphia.
The moving GoFundMe campaign that McClure and D’Amico started was purportedly intended to help Bobbitt in return.
Donations poured in — more than $400,000 from more than 14,000 people.
In August, Bobbittsued McClure and D’Amicofor fraud, saying that he had not received the money the campaign promised him. A judge ordered to couple to return the money to Bobbitt.
RELATED VIDEO:Homeless Man and New Jersey Couple Allegedly Conspired Together on GoFundMe Scam: Report
County prosecutor Scott Coffina said at a news conference that the campaign “was predicated on a lie.” The grouphad actually met at a Philadelphia casinoat least a month before the campaign began, he alleged.
Whithorne noted that “misuse is very rare on our platform” and that “campaigns with misuse make up less than one tenth of one percent of all campaigns.”
In November, Coffina alleged that Bobbitt in 2012 “posted a remarkably similar storyon his Facebook page out of North Carolina.” The Facebook post said Bobbitt had used “the only cash I had for supper” to help a woman whose car had run out of gas and had a flat tire.
“GoFundMe has informed me that in light of the charges announced today, it will be providing a full refund to all donors of the ‘Pay It Forward’ campaign,” Coffina said in November.
Lawyers for all three defendants have not responded to PEOPLE’s requests for comment.
D’Amico’s attorney said, according to NBC, “I don’t know how Kate is playing the victim now. I will be curious to see how this defense plays out for her in court.”
source: people.com
