The saga of stolen donations that had been raised for a homeless vet and Good Samaritan saw some new developments as the week came to its end. When last we checked in, a civil lawsuit was plodding along, and nearly $400,000 in donations was reportedly gone.
On Wednesday, the suspected thieves, Kate McClure and her boyfriend Mark D’Amico, were ordered to appear in court, instead of hiding behind their attorney. The couple, who found time to talk to Megyn Kelly on NBC’s Today (and insist that $150,000 remained) in late August, had no-showed every hearing thus far.
"You should advise your clients that they are directed by the court to appear, and they can assert their (Fifth Amendment) privileges at that time. I am no longer comfortable with counsel representing what their clients purport to say, when I have no certifications from the clients, no appearances by the clients, and a record that before me lacks clarity at times as to what happened with the funds," Judge Paula Dow said.
Citing a text message that alleged theft victim John Bobbitt claims to have received from D’Amico just after the August 27 Today appearance, Judge Dow also reminded attorneys that their respective clients should only communicate through lawyers.
On Thursday, authorities raided McClure and D’Amico’s New Jersey home. In addition to towing out the BMW repeatedly referenced as an unauthorized purchase the couple made with Bobbitt’s funds, law enforcement also removed “bags of potential evidence.”
Hours later, GoFundMe issued a statement promising that John Bobbitt would be “made whole.”
We are pleased to report that [John Bobbitt] 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 from … GoFundMe’s goal has always been to ensure Johnny gets the support he deserves. 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. We’re fulfilling that commitment today and we will continue to work with Johnny’s team to make sure he’s receiving all donated amounts.
Finally, on Friday, Bobbitt’s civil case against McClure and D’Amico was halted for 90 days, pending the results of the criminal investigation, at the request of the couple’s attorney, Ernest Badway.
Bobbitt’s attorney, Chris Fallon, also revealed that a review of the former first responder’s bank records revealed that he had received just $68,000 from the couple, which leaves about $300,000 of the original funds left unaccounted for, once GoFundMe’s administrative fees were paid out of the original pile of donations.
Last but not least, Bobbitt was set to enter a 30-day residential drug treatment program on Friday.
Fallon said Bobbitt hopes to kick his addiction.
"He's grateful," Fallon said. "But the first job is to help him recover and get him better."
Here’s hoping Bobbitt gets the treatment he needs, and McClure and D’Amico pay the price for taking the homeless helper’s money, and disrespecting the good intentions of the 14,237 individuals who donated their resources to help improve his circumstances.