A homeless veteran who was cheated out of $400,000 by a New Jersey couple will receive the full amount from GoFundMe. The crowdfunding website promised to contribute the full $400,000 to an escrow account created by lawyers to help pay Johnny Bobbitt’s living expenses.
The good news comes a day after police raided the Bordentown, NJ home of Kate McClure and her boyfriend Mark D’Amico. Police were seen searching a brand new black BMW in the driveway before hauling it off on a flatbed truck.
Bobbitt’s ordeal began last October when he gave McClure his last $20 after her car ran out of gas and she was stranded in a dangerous Philadelphia neighborhood.
McClure and D’Amico claimed they gave Bobbitt $200,000 which he used to buy drugs. But Bobbitt’s lawyer said the couple only gave him $75,000 in goods and services — and they spent the rest on cars, lavish vacations and brand name items for themselves.
Bobbit’s lawyer said the couple spent every penny of GoFundMe donations raised for Bobbitt after their story went viral.
Bobbitt sued the couple to recover the missing funds.
On Wednesday, New Jersey Superior Court Judge Paula Dow ordered the couple to give a deposition to Bobbitt’s lawyers to explain what they did with the money.
But GoFundMe isn’t waiting for the outcome of the lawsuit.
“Johnny will be made whole and we’re committing that he’ll get the balance of the funds that he has not yet received or benefited,” Bobby Whithorne, director of North America Communications, said in a statement to the NY Daily News on Thursday.
“We’ll continue to assist with the ongoing law enforcement investigation. As we’ve said, our platform is backed by the GoFundMe Guarantee, which means that in the rare case that GoFundMe, law enforcement or a user finds campaigns are misused, donors and beneficiaries are protected,” Whithorne said.
