A New Jersey couple accused of scamming a homeless good Samaritan out of hundreds of thousands of dollars as part of an online fundraiser that went viral a year ago had initially conspired with him to concoct a “fictitious story,” prosecutors allege.
A complaint obtained by NBC Philadelphia says couple Mark D’Amico and Kate McClure made up a GoFundMe campaign in honor of Johnny Bobbitt Jr. so that all three could raise money by deceiving generous donors. They kept up the ruse by preventing donors from acquiring information that would affect their judgment about the campaign and “by failing to correct their story,” the complaint added.
The initially feel-good tale began last fall when Bobbitt, a homeless Marine veteran, gave McClure his last $20 after she ran out of gas on a freeway ramp in Philadelphia, she said. Moved by the gesture, McClure and D’Amico started a GoFundMe campaign for Bobbitt.
“Johnny did not ask me for a dollar, and I couldn’t repay him at that moment because I didn’t have any cash, but I have been stopping by his spot for the past few weeks,” McClure wrote in her post.
In the end, greed did them in.
The fake story yielded over $400,000 for the three. The homeless guy didn’t like the couple dipping into the funds. They bought him a camper to live on some property they owned, but then tossed him off the land.
He went to a lawyer and the entire story began to unravel.
So much for decency & GFM accounts. Time for us to be indecent.
All 3 won’t be homeless in jail.
Did they do a gofundme for lawyers?
GoFundMe should only be used for legitimate causes, like raising money for legal fees so corrupt politicians worth millions of dollars can pay for their defense.
It’s sad how we have to be so careful. Truly trustworthy people will suffer along with the victim every time a grifter or con man operates their scam.
This comes home to me because I was recently an almost-victim. Thank God I recognized it for what it was and didn’t allow it to continue.
What is sad is that for every victim, almost-victim or anyone aware this could happen to them; trusting people again will be very hard.
God help us.
If someone asks me for money to buy something to eat i always say- lets go across the street to McDonald’s and i”ll treat- that usually reveals what they really want.. booze or drugs. However i can also judge when someone is in a real need so i will not only buy them lunch but give them a few dollars. and yes Claudia it is sad that trusting people has come down to that. ‘-‘
GoFundMe is the new method of graft for political operatives not famous enough for book deals.
I only give to people I know, and it’s usually to help bury someone’s family member.
Who dafuq they think they are?????
Hillary Clinton?
The nerve of some people!
izlamo delenda est …
Graft! It’s a Jersey thing.
Used to donate generously to Susan G. Komen and Race for the Cure. Then discovered SGK could not spend all their donations so SGK was giving surplus money to Planned Parenthood.
@judgeroybean
And the SGK CEO was getting a very hefty salary. It was way out of line for a charity. I stopped giving for that reason, along with the PP support.
i don’t do:
GFM GoFundMe
i do:
if you’re an arsehole:
GFY GoFuckYourself
but, if you’re humble and truly remorseful:
GFY GoodForgivesYou