Homeless man, couple allegedly conspired to deceive GoFundMe funds: UPDATE
A New Jersey couple and a homeless Philadelphia man who were once the symbol of generosity in hard times allegedly conspired with each other to come up with a false story to earn GoFundMe donations and will now face charges, according to a complaint obtained by NBC 10 Philadelphia.
The original story was this: Johnny Bobbitt, who was homeless, gave his last $20 to Kate McClure, a stranded motorist in Philadelphia in November last year, to help her get gas. To thank him, McClure, 28, and her boyfriend, Mark D’Amico, 39, created a GoFundMe account to raise funds for Bobbitt. Around 14,000 people donated to the campaign, which brought in more than $400,000 overall.
But investigators said the three deliberately prevented donors from gaining information “that would affect their judgment about solicited contribution to that fundraising effort,” according to the station. Now they will face charges including conspiracy and theft by deception, a source familiar with the case told NBC 10.
The couple turned themselves in on Wednesday to Burlington County authorities, the source said. It was unlcear if Bobbitt was with them. The Burlington County Prosecutor’s office is expected to make an announcement in the case on Thursday, The New York Post reported, citing multiple reports.
The story appeared to begin to fall apart after Bobbitt claimed that the couple used the GoFundMe money as “personal piggy bank,” and sued the couple in August over the funds.
Bobbitt’s attorney, Jacqueline Promislo, told The New York Post in September that the couple started to spend the money right after depositing it into their bank account. Bobbitt accused the two of mismanaging the donations, which the couple initially denied.
“They went on shopping sprees,” Promislo told the paper. “[Bobbitt] tells me they had a Louis Vuitton bag and Chanel sunglasses, a new iPhone 10.”
Read the entire article here:
Homeless man, couple allegedly conspired to deceive GoFundMe funds: report
A press conference is scheduled today at 2pm EST.
The Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office has said it will announce new developments in the ‘GoFundMe’ case Thursday afternoon.
Prosecutor Scott Coffina said no information will be released prior to the 2 p.m. announcement.More information is here:
GoFundMe case: Mark D’Amico and Kate McClure arrested and charged, documents show
UPDATE 11/15/2018 @1430 CST
Also during the news conference, Coffina said Bobbitt was not taken advantage of, but was fully complicit in the scheme.
All three have been charged with Theft by Deception (second-degree,) and Conspiracy to Commit Theft by Deception (second-degree).
D’Amico and McClure, both of Florence Township, New Jersey, surrendered on Wednesday night. They were processed and released.
Bobbitt, of the Kensington section of Philadelphia, was charged on Wednesday and is awaiting extradition.
Coffina said GoFundMe has cooperated with the investigation, and will be refunding all of the donations.
More information is here:
Prosecutor: GoFundMe story about helpful homeless man was a hoax
Category: "Teh Stoopid"
Hate to say it, but stories that are too good to be true are usually too good to be true…
Hope that all three enjoy jail… looks like that’s where all three are headed.
No, the military guy will get jail, the boyfriend will get house arrest, the girl will get 24hrs of probation.
Sounds like they wouldve gotten away with it, had they not gotten greedy.
Totally agree.
From the article; Attorney, “My clients will be pleading the fifth to avoid self incrimination.” Sorry cupcake, ain’t gonna help them when there’s enough evidence to incriminate them. May the fellas enjoy their time at the BJT Deli. Ms Thang is sure to be a “hit” with Big Berthan and Strap on Sally.
I have “donated” to folks that I personally knew that were on hard times, do not donate to any “commercial” charities. Never dropped into a go fund me cup. This type of scam will sure help slow those that do donate to think twice before they do it. Wonder if they’ll set up a separate
cup for their legal fees.
I feel sorry for the little dog, I’d give he/she a home.
No honor amongst theives, or fakers.
A well-intentioned platform exploited by arseholes and liars?
Surely not….
Three people can keep a secret as long as two of them are dead.
The woman is pretty, so she will be quite popular in prison. I hope they all get prison time. The homeless guy is probably hoping for prison time. At least he will get three hots and a cot and be warm with clean clothes.
Freaking scum white collar criminals. I wonder if all the money is gone? That’s really smart … suddenly spending big bucks on expensive cars. Dumbasses.
According to the DA, the $360K they rec’d from Go Fund Me has all been spent. The “homeless” bum rec’d about $75K of the money.
No good deed goes unpunished.
GoFundMe/KickStarter is two of the worst things I have ever fucking heard of.
A year ago, Jonn posted about this. The reason I bring it up is that in this particular thread Green Thumb nailed it. He usually says a couple of words, and one of them is always turd, but this time he outdid himself. Someone called Casey, whose take was not unreasonable at all, called GT on his view of the Vet being a shitbag. Gasey swung and missed. GT struck him out.
https://valorguardians.com/blog/?p=76213
Word.
I remember this turd. I think he had a General Discharge or something like that.
General Discharge = Shitbag.
Some folks on here disagreed and said he was doing the right thing and maybe he could change. You know, the General Discharge was just a PTSD thing.
Bullshit.
I would now like to remind them that General Discharge = Shitbag. And there is a reason for that.
Those in that realm of paperwork (The Big “GD”) are usually crooks, clowns, drunks, druggies, wife beaters, thieves, philanderers, con men, fakers, profile riders, bullshit artists, tickle monsters, excessive meatgazers and TURDS as evidenced by the scam and those involved. There is areason that got the boot (usually in lieu of Courts Martial).
Some greedy turds that stole that seem to have congregated in the same bowl.
Flush.
Testify
Apparently the man/wife turned themselves in and Johnny Bobbitt is in the wind now? Shocking I sez….SHOCKING!
I don’t know if you remember, Jonn wrote about it when it happened, the kid that committed suicide while in a guard tower in Afghanistan because he was getting hazed. A couple of years ago I worked with the guy who was the kid’s Platoon Sergeant when the incident happened. He was an E-6(P) and had just taken over as PSG. He was the SOG when he heard a gunshot from one of the towers. When he got to the tower he found the kid laying on the ground with a self inflicted gunshot wound. He tried to save his life and rushed him to the CSH. He was court martialed and the charge was disturbing a crime scene, somebody has to be thrown under the bus and we all know that it can’t be the officer. He got a general under honorable conditions. So even after a court martial he got a better discharge than this guy.
Johnny Bobbitt popped up on the TAH radar by being a former Marine who was kicked out of Camp Lejeune after only 14 months:
https://valorguardians.com/blog/?p=76213
There’s also a big hole in the current story. According to the news reports, Bobbitt and the New Jersey couple were involved in a conspiracy to scam GoFundMe donations. What’s unclear is when the conspiracy started, and who might have instigated it. What it sort of sounds like is that Kate McClure ran out of gas and used Bobbitt’s homelessness as an opportunity. The three, including McClure’s boyfriend, then had a falling out over the money.
Or was the entire thing a fabrication? Did all three know each other, the running out of gas incident never happened, and Bobbitt wasn’t homeless?
The update to this explains a lot. So, what apparently happened is that the threesome met up in a casino and hatched the scheme for the phony charity. Never mind the question of why a homeless guy would be hanging out in a casino. The real question is who would file a lawsuit to get his part of the illegal swag?
It would be like bank robbers divvying up after a heist, and one telling the others “you’ll hear from my attorney” when he thinks he didn’t get enough of the cash.
At the risk of going out on a limb, I’d venture that Bobbitt is probably not the brightest bulb in the chandelier…
Lots of homeless hang around casinos…we called them “river rats”, ALSO called “slot sweeper”, they go around checking all the slots for change left in them.
The most recent report says says the couple actually met the bum about a month before fake out of gas staged incident.
This case should also be brought federally. It would certainly discourage the rampant abuses of crowd funding if people started getting charged and convicted of wire fraud.
Time for Prosecutors, Jurors and Judges to flush those turds into the prison system.
This may have been a drug fueled ménage a trois on board the crazy train before it went off the rails into criminality.
Never trust a junkie!
I bet this loser was hanging out in their swimming pool like dude did in “Down and Out in Beverly Hills” waiting on his cut as he sucked down the freebies.
And the people probably got tired of it and wanted him gone.
All three have been charged with Theft by Deception (second-degree,) and Conspiracy to Commit Theft by Deception (second-degree).
Prosecutor: GoFundMe story about helpful homeless man was a hoax
Thanks for the update, ex-OS2, especially with their Mugshots..quote from the Good Book “The Love Of Money is the Root of All Evil..”
BTW, I know this has been mentioned before, but just trying to figure out why it is currently 1615 EST my time, but 1635 hours your time (as shown on your post)…
Just answered my own statement. My post shows 1718 hours when it is 1618 hours, so am guessing the domain software did not do the Daylights Savings Time “Fallback” doo-hicky-ma-jig (please, will someone in our Government Chain of Command get rid of the antique, dinosaur, outdated DST)…
1 wish each poster here on this thread the best of health for them and their family and a full Thanksgiving Holiday.
My Best Regards for for those who served.
Shouldn’t be refunded otherwise fucking idioits don’t learn anything.
What? Is there no honor among thieves?
H.L. Mencken once said no one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the public (I’m probably paraphrasing a little) this story also proves that reality. If you don’t know the reality of any situation it’s wise to never take it at face value these days.
In a nation filled from top to bottom with liars, believing in the honesty of others is often a recipe for being victimized.
Just a reminder:
The couple went on the Megyn Kelly Show on 28 August 2018 and lied on her show:
https://youtu.be/RdUCUFd-YH8
Greedy Little Ducks. All three of them. Also, three villages are missing their town idiots.
Within this link is the 10 page Statement of Probable Cause (View on Scribd) for the Tin Cup Scandel. Interesting read:
https://www.courierpostonline.com/story/news/crime/2018/11/15/gofundme-dispute-homeless-samaritan-johnny-bobbitt-katelyn-mcclure-mark-damico-criminal-charges/1277698002/
*Sigh* Wish the public knew the REAL military background about the “Homeless Veteran”..(am tired of reading about Bobbitt being a “Veteran”…I know, I know, he was one, but…)
I like to call the “Homeless Veteran” meme a function of the Jessie Macbeth Factor. Loser liars, after brief substandard military service, invariably turn out to have been lying dicksteppers in civilian life before they went in the service. The military doesn’t, IMHO, do anything to you to make you homeless after you leave the service. Yeah, yeah, I know there are a handful of people somewhere that have PTSD so bad they can’t function, but they are collecting either medical retired pay or VA 100% disability of over $3K per month tax-free. So they have no excuse for being homeless. And putting your disability pension up your nose or into your arm is not an excuse.
Good.