Johnny Bobbitt's "Paying it Forward" GoFundMe
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Overview
Johnny Bobbitt's "Paying it Forward" GoFundMe refers to a crowdfunding campaign created by New Jersey residents Kate McClure and Mark D'Amico to collect donations for homeless veteran Johnny Bobbitt.
Background
On November 10th, 2017, a GoFundMe[1] page titled "Paying it Forward" was created, which claimed that Bobbitt gave McClure his last $20 to help her buy gas to get home and she wanted to help him raise money in return (shown below). In the coming months, 14,000 people donated upwards of $400,000 to the campaign.
Developments
Media Appearances
On November 26th, 2017, McClure and Bobbitt were interviewed on ABC News, where they discussed the viral campaign (shown below).
Fraud Allegations
On August 23rd, 2018, the Philadelphia Inquirer[2] reported that Bobbitt accused the couple of withholding money from the campaign after receiving only $75,000 to purchase a trailer, an SUV and gifts. Additionally, the article reported that Bobbitt was homeless again and "spends his days scrambling for money and drugs."
On August 27th, McClure and D'Amico were interviewed on the talk show Today, during which they denied any wrongdoing and claimed that they did not give him the entire sum of money due to his drug addiction.
Legal Battle
On August 30th, 2018, a Burlington County judge ordered D'Amico and McClure to hand over the remaining funds from the campaign to Bobbitt's legal counsel.[3] On August 31st, the local Philadelphia news station 6 ABC aired a segment on the legal battle, in which Bobbitt speculated that the couple spent the money on a BMW and several lavish vacations (shown below). On September 4th, Bobbit's lawyer Chris Fallon told the Philadelphia Inquirer that McClure and D'Amico's lawyers revealed that the remaining funds were entirely gone.[4]
On September 6th, police raided the couple's home and towed a BMW car parked in the driveway. That day, Twitter user @KScott6abc tweeted a video of D'Amico swinging a golf club in his yard while authorities were searching his home (shown below).
Mark D’Amico seen swinging golf club and playing fetch with dog outside Bordentown home where authorities executing search warrant in Gofundme case. pic.twitter.com/4JAQf6DvSy
— Katherine Scott (@KScott6abc) September 6, 2018
Arrests
On November 14th, 2018, McClure and D'Amico were arrested on charges of conspiracy and theft by deception for orchestrating the GoFundMe as a scam with Bobbitt. The same day, Bobbitt was arrested in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on charges of being a fugitive from justice. He was subsequently transferred to Burlington County, New Jersey for the GoFundMe scam charges. That evening, the news station NBC Philadelphia reported about a complaint alleging that Bobbitt, McClure and D'Amico all conspired together to make the false story in order to launch the crowdfunding campaign. That day, ABC News aired a segment about the arrests (shown below).
Search Interest
External References
[1] GoFundMe – Paying it Forward
[2] Philadelphia Inquirer – Homeless again Johnny Bobbitt can’t get his GoFundMe money
[3] NBC Philadelphia – Couple Who Raised Money for Homeless Turn Over Funds Judge Orders
[4] Philadelphia Inquirer – Johnny Bobbitt’s lawyer says all $400,000 in GoFundMe money is gone
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Ryumaru Borike
Sep 06, 2018 at 04:58PM EDT
HelifIgno
Nov 15, 2018 at 07:33PM EST