Yuppies set up GoFundMe for homeless man, steal all the money?

Chaos Descending · Sep 10, 2018

Have you guys heard about this?

Long story short:

Chick is out of gas and HOMELESS GUY gives her his last $20 bucks.

Chick and her husband then set up a GoFundMe to reward the homeless guy. They raise $400,000!!!!!!!

Couple gives the homeless guy some of the money then stop, claiming he's a druggie and wasting the cash.

Mysteriously, the couple now has a new BMW and such...

Judge orders couple to hand over all the money to the homeless guy, but it's GONE!

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/09/1...-shoe-collection-pricey-vacations-report.html

Amaris · Sep 10, 2018

Yeah, I read about this some time ago, and I thought it was horrible what they did to that poor man. Honestly, he's homeless, he gives them his last $20 so they can get gas to make it home, and these people are going to just step in his face and exploit him on top of that? I have a dozen adjectives I could use, but I prefer to just say these people were behaving like assholes. All I can think to explain what they did was that their intentions started off honorably enough, but after a few days, maybe one of them decided they could cash in on the optics of it. The poor man who is in desperate need of help gladly accepts, and these two keep the money from him "for his own good," and end up using it for themselves.

Now, I may have it completely wrong, but from where I'm standing right now, it looks like that has happened. If that has indeed happened, I hope he receives what is rightfully his, and hopefully he can climb out of homelessness, as he would have enough resources to actually do so.

Ten Lubak · Sep 10, 2018

I'm going to take the side of the couple here

They probably saved the hobo's life from a horrific overdose

And BMWs don't pay for themselves

Dinner · Sep 10, 2018

Go fund me has already said they will replace the money that was stolen. Meanwhile, the court is already in the process of seizing all the assets of the couple who stole from him.

oldfella1962 · Sep 10, 2018

Ten Lubak said: ↑

I'm going to take the side of the couple here

They probably saved the hobo's life from a horrific overdose

And BMWs don't pay for themselves
Click to expand...

I hear you! And buying a BMW circulates money into the economy - the gas, the maintenance, the salesman at the dealership, auto insurance companies, homeless guys washing your windows for pocket change - etc.etc.

Seriously I hope the couple (if guilty) get what's coming to them too! An epic ass-whupping by an army of homeless would be a great start for now!

Dinner · Sep 10, 2018

Maybe someone can set up a go fund me page for their legal bills.

El Chup · Sep 10, 2018

What’s the big deal? At least the bum got a refund...

ed629 · Nov 15, 2018

It's all fake....

The "heartwarming tale" of a New Jersey couple helping drug-addicted homeless veteran Johnny Bobbitt took a stone-cold twist Thursday when a prosecutor said it was "predicated on a lie" designed to dupe thousands of people into contributing to a GoFundMe campaign.

Bobbitt, and the couple, Kate McClure and Mark D'Amico, allegedly conspired to concoct a story to tug at the hearts and wallets of kind-hearted individuals, Burlington County Prosecutor Scott Coffina said at a news conference Thursday. They initially sought to raise $10,000, but the wildly successful GoFundMe campaign brought in over $400,000 and triggered an "international media blitz" that furthered the fraudulent campaign, Coffina said.

Every shred of the trio's story, including the part that Bobbitt used his last $20 to help McClure out of a roadside jam when she ran out of gas, was all bogus, Coffina said.

"The entire campaign was predicated on a lie," Coffina said. "Less than an hour after the GoFundMe campaign went live McClure, in a text exchange with a friend, stated that the story about Bobbitt assisting her was fake."
In one of the texts read by Coffina, McClure allegedly wrote to a friend, "Ok, so wait, the gas part is completely made up but the guy isn't. I had to make something up to make people feel bad. So, shush about the made up stuff."

'They hit the casinos hard'

GoFundMe, which has cooperated in the investigation, has agreed to refund money to the 14,000 people who donated to Bobbitt.

"While this type of behavior by an individual is extremely rare, it's unacceptable and clearly it has consequences. Committing fraud, whether it takes place on or offline is against the law. We are fully cooperating and assisting law enforcement officials to recover every dollar withdrawn by Ms. McClure and Mr. D'Amico," GoFundMe said in a statement.

Coffina said the suspected fraudsters might have gotten away with the scam had Bobbitt not filed a lawsuit against McClure and D'Amico in August, accusing them of withholding the funds from him.

The money is all gone, most of it allegedly squandered by McClure and D'Amico on luxury handbags, a New Year's trip to Las Vegas and a BMW; the couple also used the donated funds to pay back $9,000 they owed to relatives and "hit the casinos hard," Coffina said. Bank records showed they withdrew more than $85,000 at or near casinos in Atlantic City, Philadelphia and Las Vegas, he said.

McClure, 28, D'Amico, 39, and Bobbitt, 34, were all charged with second-degree theft by deception and conspiracy to commit theft by deception. McClure and D'Amico voluntarily surrendered to authorities on Wednesday, and have since been released, Coffina said. All three are each facing five to 10 years in prison, prosecutors said.

They were ordered to appear in court on Christmas Eve.

Bobbitt was arrested Wednesday night by the Philadelphia Police Department on charges of being a fugitive from justice, according to Philadelphia police. He is expected to be extradited to Burlington County to face charges related to the GoFundMe case.

Reached Thursday, an attorney for McClure and D'Amico told ABC News, "We have no comment. Have a nice day."

In numerous media appearances, McClure claimed she was driving to meet a friend in September 2017 when she ran out of gas around midnight on the I-95 exit ramp near Philadelphia and Bobbitt, who was sleeping under a nearby overpass, came to her rescue. She claimed Bobbitt spent his last $20 to buy her gas.

"I pulled over to the side of the road as far as I could and I was going to get out and walk to the nearest gas station because it was not that far away, and that's when I met Johnny," McClure said last November in a "Good Morning America" interview. "He walked up and he said, 'Get back in the car. Lock the doors. I'll be back.' I was just like, 'OK.'"

She said Bobbitt used his panhandling money to get her out of the jam.

"I almost couldn't believe it," McClure added. "I said, 'Thank you...I swear, I'll be back. I promise I'll be back to give you [the] money back.'"

Hoping to repay Bobbitt for the apparent generous act, McClure said she and D'Amico set up a GoFundMe online. The fund was launched on Nov. 10, 2017, just hours after D'Amico took of photo of McClure posing with Bobbitt near the I-95 exit ramp, Coffina said.

"I just got her gas to help her get back on her way. I didn't think anything about it. I wasn't expecting anything in return," Bobbitt told "Good Morning America." "That's how I got the money to start with -- from other people. [I had to] return the favor. I can't constantly take and not give back."

Coffina said investigators believe McClure and D'Amico first met Bobbitt about a month before they launched the GoFundMe campaign near the Sugarhouse Casino in Philadelphia, close to the I-95 off-ramp where Bobbitt was living on the streets at the time.

Asked who came up with the idea of the scam, Coffina noted a 2012 post Bobbitt made on his Facebook page that was "remarkably similar" to the narrative on the GoFundMe page.

"He reported that he helped a woman who had both run out of gas and had a flat tire at a Walmart, spent his last supper money to get her on her way and fix her flat tire," Coffina said. "I don't think that's a coincidence."

Coffina said that one true thing about the story is that Bobbitt did serve in the Marine Corps and was homeless.

Military records obtained by ABC News show that Bobbit served in the Marines as an ammunition technician from December 2002 to February 2004 and was awarded a National Defense Service Medal.

"He deserves our appreciation for his willingness to serve our country as a United States Marine and he has our sympathy and concern for the homelessness that he's experienced, as well as his publicized struggle with addiction," Coffina said. "But it is imperative to keep in mind that he was fully complicit in the scheme to defraud contributors, promoting the campaign in multiple media appearances and posing with Amico and McClure for a Philadelphia Inquirer story in front of a gas station that he did not buy gas from."

In August, Bobbitt filed a lawsuit accusing McClure and D'Amico of committing fraud by taking more than half of the money they raised for themselves. His pro bono attorney alleged in court papers that the couple treated the donations like their "personal piggy bank to fund a lifestyle that they could not otherwise afford."

D'Amico and McClure denied the allegations.

In September, the Burlington County Prosecutor's Office launched a criminal investigation into the missing GoFundMe donations and raided the couple's home, seizing a BMW and other belongings.

Coffina said that even after burning through most of the money and getting sued by Bobbitt, D'Amico was allegedly thinking of ways to keep the scam going, including landing a book deal.

"He was certain the payday from the book deal they were pursuing would dwarf the money from the GoFundMe campaign," Coffina said. "A few months later, when the dispute with Bobbitt became public D'Amico was not dissuaded. Instead, he pitched a title for the book that would encompass the controversy, 'No Good Deed.'"

Bobbitt's 81-year-old grandmother, Betty Grissom, of North Carolina, told ABC News Thursday that Bobbitt had always been a "fine young man."

"He had been in the Marines and he worked with a paramedic group and we all heard ... how great he was, and he just let the drugs take over," said Grissom, adding that she hasn't seen or heard from her grandson since he left her house in 2014.

"When he had his drug problem, I know he did things he should not have done, but I cannot believe he was involved in this type of hoax," Grissom said. "Until Johnny comes and tells me personally he did it, I cannot believe it."
Click to expand...

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Yuppies set up GoFundMe for homeless man, steal all the money?

Chaos Descending 14th Level Human Cleric

Amaris Guest

Ten Lubak Salty Dog

Dinner 2012 & 2014 Master Prognosticator

oldfella1962 the only real finish line

Dinner 2012 & 2014 Master Prognosticator

El Chup Fuck Trump Deceased Member Git

ed629 Morally Inept Banned

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Yuppies set up GoFundMe for homeless man, steal all the money?

Chaos Descending 14th Level Human Cleric

Amaris Guest

Ten Lubak Salty Dog

Dinner 2012 & 2014 Master Prognosticator

oldfella1962 the only real finish line

Dinner 2012 & 2014 Master Prognosticator

El Chup Fuck Trump Deceased Member Git

ed629 Morally Inept Banned

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