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A homeless veteran who sued a New Jersey couple, claiming he had not received most of the $ 400,000 he collected for him online, will receive the money he owes, GoFundMe said. Thursday night.
The man, Johnny Bobbitt Jr., met the couple, Mark D'Amico and Kate McClure, while they were stranded on a road in Philadelphia in 2017 and he gave them $ 20. The couple published the story online and inspired more than 14,000 people to donate to Bobbitt via GoFundMe.
But Mr. Bobbitt said he received only $ 75,000 and the couple spent the rest, including on a BMW. He sued the couple last month and the police investigation. The couple challenged his allegations.
On Thursday night, GoFundMe said it would help cover the costs, if necessary, to ensure Bobbitt gets the donations he has not already received.
"Johnny will be made whole and we are committed to getting the balance of funds that he has not yet received or from which he has not benefited," GoFundMe said in a joint statement with Cozen O & # 39; Connor, a law firm representing Mr. Bobbitt.
The statement was made the same day the investigators searched Ms. McClure's property and Mr. D'Amico's property.
The authorities arrived at the couple's home in the canton of Florence, N.J. at about 8:00 am on Thursday and were seen carrying things in bags and towing a BMW coupe.
Scott A. Coffina, the Burlington County, New Jersey, District Attorney, said investigators from his office and the Florence Township Police Department had searched the property "as part of a criminal investigation into the property". Johnny Bobbitt case.
"To date, no charges have been filed," said Coffina in an email.
Mr. Bobbitt's and the couple's lawyers did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Thursday. Mr. D'Amico was seen swinging a golf club in front of his house as authorities searched his home.
The authorities executed the search warrant one day after a hearing in New Jersey, during which a judge expressed frustration that the couple's lawyer had failed to report on the money raised. if it had been spent.
Mr. Amico and Ms. McClure did not appear at the hearing and their lawyer, Ernest Badway, stated that the couple would invoke their fifth amendment right to avoid self-incrimination. and failing to produce the financial information requested by Judge Paula Dow of the Burlington County Superior Court.
"I'm no longer comfortable with the lawyers who represent what their clients claim to say, when I have no certification from clients, no customer appearances and a file that lacks clarity to About the funds "Judge Dow told Mr. Badway on Wednesday.
At the end of the hearing, Judge Dow ordered Mr. Badway and Chris Fallon, an attorney for Mr. Bobbitt, to organize their financial documents and provide accounting at a public hearing. scheduled hearing on Monday.
On August 30, Dow J. ordered the couple to transfer the money to an escrow account no later than the following afternoon.
When the couple met Mr. Bobbitt for the first time, he was homeless in the streets of Philadelphia and "lived the kindness of strangers," according to Jacqueline Promislo, another lawyer who represents him. She said last month that Bobbitt was seeking treatment for rehab but declined to give details.
Mr. D'Amico and Ms. McClure testified that they bought a caravan from Mr. Bobbitt and parked it on their property. But Mrs. Promislo said she bought the trailer on her behalf and has since sold it.
Mr. Bobbitt estimates that he received $ 75,000, including the cost of the trailer. Mr. Badway challenged this amount in court and said that the couple gave Mr. Bobbitt over $ 200,000 in goods and services.
"I had to ask them everything at the beginning" Mr. Bobbitt told WPVI-TV, the ABC station in Philadelphia. "It was a joke."
At the NBC show "Megyn Kelly Today" last week, Mr. D'Amico said that out of all the funds raised, he had only spent $ 500 on himself, in a casino but that he had repaid it.
On the show, the couple claimed to have withheld Mr. Bobbitt 's money after paying them $ 25,000 before Christmas last year and Mr. Bobbitt spent it in two. weeks. "We did not want to give him the $ 400,000," D'Amico said, adding that they feared Mr. Bobbitt would spend it on drugs.
Mr. Bobbitt said he wanted to put the remaining money in a trust and learn how to manage it.
"I hate that happened to that," Bobbitt told ABC. "I did not want to lobby for a lawyer or do anything, because I did not want to be ungrateful."
GoFundMe says it is prepared to pay the funds that Mr. Bobbitt has not yet received as part of its GoFundMe guarantee, which means that in the rare cases where GoFundMe, law enforcement or a user find abusive campaigns, donors and beneficiaries are protected. "
It is unclear how much it could cost, but the organization will find out "at the end of the investigation or court process and after detailed accounting," said Bobby Whithorne, spokesperson for GoFundMe.
Jacey Fortin contributed to the report.
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