Homeless Veteran Claims couple raised $400,000 for him but they are spending all the money themselves.
They raised $400,000 for a homeless man — who claims they spent it on vacations, casinos and a BMW.
She was a motorist on Interstate 95 in Philadelphia who found herself stuck on an off-ramp, scared and out of gas.
He was a homeless veteran who told her to lock her doors, then spent his last $20 on that day in October to bring her a canister of fuel.
Later she sought to repay the favor, first with cereal bars and warm socks and spare dollars, then with a GoFundMe campaign to raise money so the good Samaritan would not have to sleep under a bridge. Bobbitt, she told anyone who would listen, deserved a fresh start.
It seems there are all kinds of parasites and vultures after the money that was donated by well-intentioned people.
There are accusations of mismanagement and outright theft of the money raised on Bobbitt’s behalf. The GoFundMe cash, Bobbitt suspected, had been squandered on vacations, a luxury car and more than one addiction. And this weekend, the threat of litigation loomed.
Last fall, McClure said, the plan was to get Bobbitt a house and his dream truck, a 1999 Ford Ranger. Bobbitt also planned to donate money to people and organizations that had helped him as he struggled with homelessness.
In reality, things weren’t that rosy. Instead of a house, McClure and D’Amico got Bobbitt a camper, which they kept in their names and parked on land owned by D’Amico’s family, according to news reports. They bought him a television, a laptop and two cellphones, food and clothing — and a used SUV that was soon broken-down and idle.
What he didn’t get, though, was any type of ownership over the money raised on his behalf. He met briefly with a financial adviser, but there was never any lawyer or any trust, according to Philadelphia CBS affiliate WTVR. D’Amico said he kept $200,000 — what remained after buying the camper and the SUV and other expenses — in a savings account that he would gladly turn over to Bobbitt once he kicked an addiction to opioids and managed to hold down a job.
The Homeless Veteran now has a Lawyer-ish person involved…I assume at no charge because a Lawyer-ish person would not take money that was donated to a homeless veteran, would he? It does seem a bit odd for the two do-gooders to be lollygagging around the country in a new BMW all of a sudden.
I will tell you what I really find annoying, my ass began to itch the second I saw this story and the guy claimed to be a Homeless Veteran. You all know what a trusting kinda guy I am…so I did a little research of my own. Search as I may for any evidence he was actually in the military…I have come up with nuttin so far. Our investigation is not complete yet, but since this story has already turned septic I thought what the hell. I keep getting these kinda things in every database I have looked into so far. They all say he has no service thus far, but I will hold our final judgment until we get the FOIA back from NPRC.
I honestly wonder if reporters actually do any research on what they report these days. What are the odds this turns into a case where a faux homeless guy who claims to be a veteran and is neither gets swindled by a couple posing as do-gooders with a GoFundMe account and it all has to be straightened out by a shyster or two who will burn up most of what is left of the money answering phone calls and doing press interviews. Let’s hope all these people turn out to be completely legit but it ain’t looking so good at the moment.
I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY WISH PEOPLE WOULD STOP GIVING MONEY TO PEOPLE WHO CLAIM TO BE VETERANS
Category: Phony soldiers, Valor Vultures
John S. Bobbitt, Jr. Facebook page where he claimed he was with the Marine Corps 2001-2004:
https://m.facebook.com/johnnybobbitt
An interesting story about his background:
https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_5a2c4964e4b022ec613b82df
Correction: Johnny S. Bobbitt, Jr.
So we have a liar being cheated by liars? quite a scene, Stolen Valor, Stolen Money, should be made into a movie lol Maybe a better title would be assholes galore! 😉
I’ll bring your ass gas for $400K. Hell, I’ll do it for less. Actually, after looking at the woman, I’d do that shit for free. You know, kinda like free gas for benefits. Bwhaaaa
This homeless guy, bless his heart, actually thought someone would give him nearly half a mil? And with $400K, his dream truck was a 1999 Ford Ranger, a truck that is worth what, $4,000? GMAFB.
I think I know how this went down. They rattled the cup, thinking they would collect a few hundred bucks, and they could live with giving that much to him. Then the money started rolling in, and I mean really rolling in, and they said bullshit, we’re not giving this much money to a homeless dude. He’s too stupid to ever find out how much we collect.
Well, don’t know the legal ramifications here. I’m thinking they trashed their reputation, but for $400K, what do they care? W/O a contract, I don’t know what is enforceable. I’m thinking Judge Judy needs to be consulted.
I love you, no shit, sailor. Buy me an Escape.
Special Jeepney, 10 peso for every jeepney you pass between here and Island Girls in Barrio!
(Only time I ever saw my life flashing before my eyes.)
That seems the biggest problem with the gofundme phenomenon. No regulations or guarantees of what will happen to the money.
At the same time, people put dumb shit on there like, “I spent my whole life savings buying lottery tickets and lost, please help me rebuild it!” and get people donating to them.
I promise if you give me money I will spend it.
PH: That sounds like a challenge.
Some more interesting info about Johnny S. Bobbitt’s service in the Marine Corps:
https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/your-army/2017/11/27/the-homeless-marine-vet-who-is-now-famous-never-finished-his-first-enlistment/
Hmm – DOR to E1 4 mo prior to discharge. If I had to guess, I’d guess a court-martial sentenced him to confinement and a BCD, and he was discharged after serving 4 mo. (Field-grade NJP, or multiple company-grade NJPs, followed by an admin discharge could also explain it.) But those scenarios are only speculation on my part; I could be wrong.
However, it fits. And a BCD, along with his “habit”, might also explain why he was having trouble finding employment and was homeless.
The article also says he did not deploy during his 14 mo in the USMC. Presumably that means he’ll have a bit of difficulty playing the PTSD card.
With the substantial amount of VA programs and grants available, it would be a good guess that he got kicked badly.
I was assigned to the VA in my AO by TRICARE and use them so I hear all the stories about this kind of thing. There are people who can’t find “homeless” veterans within a 75 mile radius who ‘want’ to be homed because there are so many options available for them. (As long as they have a positive or non-negative discharge that is.)
Every homeless (legitimate) vet I’ve met, wants to be homeless.
His full name is Johnny Sterling Bobbitt, Jr.
He was born in 1983 and is from Henderson, North Carolina.
He was using a P.O. Box address in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina in 2004.
He admitted in April 2018 that he was still struggling with drug addiction and used some of the money given to him to purchase drugs:
https://wtop.com/national/2018/04/homeless-samaritan-says-hes-still-struggling-with-addiction/
He’s still better off than that other Bobbit guy, John. Thwack!
Hmm. Wonder whatever happened to ol’ Frankendong?
Disregard – both principles in that case are apparently still around.
https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/lorena-bobbitt-john-bobbitt-25-years-696573/
Surprisingly, the Rolling Stone article is reasonably neutral.
I don’t recommend bothering with the Vanity Fair article Rolling Stone references, though. Typical Vanity Fair crap.
He tried to make it as a pr0n actor and failed, likely because he fainted every time a director yelled “CUT!”.
It was pretty obvious from the git go that Mr. Bobbit No. 1 was not overly far sighted. If you plan on taking up a career which requires a healthy schlong, and had to have one re-attached, really now could not he have taken care of the issue by having a donkey schlong attached where his wife used to find her hand toys? BTW, is it true that Lorena eventually started working in a butcher shop?
I have a list of things I want. Doesn’t mean I need them, I just want them. So should I start a GoFundMe just to get cash to buy them, or finish my romance/war story and get SocSec credit on royalties??
Aren’t there tax consequences on receiving GoFundMe donations? Below a certain amount, unearned or ordinary income is usually not taxed, but above that, it’s taxable.
Oh! Doesn’t diverting GFM cash to your own use constitute some kind of fraud?
Go-Fund-Me attempts have me baffled. Have a friend who ran one for three months didn’t get a dime. Needed money for a dog that would alter when his blood sugar dropped. Theory was the dog would alert to the drop before he dropped. (See what I did there?)
I’ve only donated to a few. Most recent was that very elderly WW2 vet, a black gentleman, who needed money to keep his house. I donated twice to him. Another was a group of villagers in some shithole who wanted money to buy goats. Idea was they could drink/sell milk, the goats would reproduce, and everyone would live happily forever.
I’ve seen some and said “no way I would give them a dime” and they rake in the bucks. Others seem deserving and don’t get a dime.
I think I might have donated to the same WW2 chap as you for that, though there could be more than one.
I’ve only donated via a reference from this page’s crew and one other. On the internet my trust is -54 when I see “veteran needs help!” which might be a bit more trusting than others. But, I think we’ve all seen way too many times where it’s bullshit and expect multiple confirmations for credibility.
I am a Veteran and I don’t take hand outs. Most of all the Vets I know … are self starters and only use hand ups when absolutely required.
Real Vets find a way, often using the tools taught and learned during their military service.
^this^ Don’t ask, take, or give. Have helped out folk that I knew first hand that needed a little help up. Do not give to politicians, preachers, or panhandlers. Food for families and rescued a number of fur babies. The scams on both sides seem to be never ending, don’t they!
Every time lately that I go to the supermarket I have to run the gauntlet of panhandlers – starting to feel like Robert Stack from Airplane! :).
Time to get your mad Judo Chop skills up to par!
People who get kicked out have no right to claim “veteran”. Shameless.
It’s a shame that some people are consigned to humanity’s junk heap but that’s the way it is.
So some broke-dick junkie in Philadelphia scams people with a pitiful story about being a homeless veteran. He, in turn, is then flim-flammed out of $400,000 by a couple of entrepreneurial yuppies needing a new BMW.
All things considered, this sounds like an excellent business model with outstanding cash flow. If you don’t mind being a sociopath…
sociopath
bwhaaaa
So a scammer was scammed by a couple of smarter scammers. What are the odds?
Excellent example of what happens when you do drugs and the price paid for doing drugs. Your scam gets out-scammed.
They took the game to the next level. SV doesn’t even matter here. Just straight theft.
He was also featured here last year: https://valorguardians.com/blog/?p=76213
Shhh…will the real Bobbitt please stand up. There be things lurking in the wood pile.
He is just another drugee dickstepping bum who claims the “homeless veteran” moniker to help him panhandle for drug money. Looks like one fraudster taking advantage of another, after one good deed in a failed life.
Fucked up no matter HOW you look at it.
I guess the old saw, “No good deed will go unpunished” goes both ways, here.
Is it possible to wish they all get fucked with a pineapple, fronds first?
He said, she said:
http://www2.philly.com/philly/news/breaking/homeless-again-johnny-bobbitt-cant-get-his-gofundme-money-20180823.html
(1) GO FUND ME kept $20,000 as the standard fee.
(2) Mark D’Amico in recent months has had his own legal problems stemming from traffic offenses, a suspended driver’s license, and an arrest for failing to appear in municipal court.
(3) Bobbitt is back to living under the bridge with his brother, Josh, 34, who is also addicted to opiates.
(1.a.) and GO FUND ME will spend exactly zero dollars to change this situation.
The last Bobbitt we heard of had something he considered important cut off! 😉