Homeless Vet’s Missing GoFundMe $400k: Police Raid Couple’s Home
'Virtue signaling' New Jersey couple's home raided over veteran's missing cash
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On Thursday, police raided the New Jersey home of the "virtue signaling" couple who raised $400,000 for a homeless veteran but have failed to explain the whereabouts of the money.
The couple has been ordered by a judge to appear in court to testify to what happened to the $400k they raised online through a GoFundMe campaign for a homeless Good Samaritan.
Footage shows a shiny, black BMW car being towed away from the scene at the Bordentown property owned by Mark D’Amico and Katie McClure.
D’Amico can be seen in other videos hitting golf balls off the lawn surrounding the home while ABC6 reported that bags of items were removed from the property by law enforcement and loaded into a vehicle.
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
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Fox News reports: Burlington County said a "search warrant was executed early this morning by the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office and the Florence Township Police Department at the residence of D'Amico and McClure in connection with a criminal investigation into the Johnny Bobbitt matter."
"As of this time, there have been no charges filed," Burlington County Prosecutor Scott A. Coffina said in a statement.
Superior Court Judge Paula Dow said the day before that McClure and D’Amico must show up in court next week for a deposition in a suit filed by Bobbitt over the whereabouts of the hundreds of thousands of dollars raised for him via GoFundMe, according to Fox 29.
Bobbitt’s story went viral in late 2017 after he gave McClure his last $20 for gas when she was stranded. She set up a GoFundMe page for him, which raised $400,000.
Tow truck removes BMW from the Bordentown, NJ property of Katie McClure & Mark D’Amico, where @BurlcoPros is serving a search warrant. The couple is being investigated over funds missing from a $400,000 GoFundMe account they started for homeless veteran Johnny Bobbitt @CBSPhilly pic.twitter.com/cxPcFBrw9P
— Trang Do (@TrangDoCBS3) September 6, 2018
Eventually, the relationship soured sometime after Bobbitt received roughly $75,000 of the funds.
He used the money to purchase a camper and SUV, but he has admitted he squandered some of the cash on drugs.
He no longer has the camper or SUV, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported Tuesday.
Bobbitt accused McClure and D’Amico of mismanaging the donations raised.
The couple denies the claims.
Dow on Wednesday had chastised the pair’s attorney over “grandstanding” and said his clients have to appear in person to assert their right against self-incrimination.
Bobbitt was also ordered to be deposed.
In court, McClure and D'Amico's attorney, Ernest Badway, said about $200,000 had gone to Bobbitt, but Dow said Badway indicated he was "misadvised" by his clients and that later the court learned there was no money left.
She said she wants them to appear in person. Neither the couple nor Bobbit was in court Wednesday.
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"I am not allowing you to be their voice anymore," said Dow, a former state attorney general.
Last month, D’Amico claimed that he controls the funds in the account and that he would dispense the money when Bobbitt gets a job and stops using drugs.
Dow also ordered the couple last month to wire the remaining funds to a trust for Bobbitt by Friday and submit an accounting report of the donated money.
The money will be transferred to an account controlled by Bobbitt’s lawyers but can’t be used until the judge determines how it will be managed.
Kate McClure just got into car and left Bordentown home where authorities executed search warrant in GoFundMe case. She did not stop to talk to reporters, covered her face as she walked to her car. pic.twitter.com/mPnbeNgmiq
— Katherine Scott (@KScott6abc) September 6, 2018
However, it seems that the funds have vanished.
Fallon said in court on Wednesday that Bobbitt is entering a 30-day residential treatment program. He has earlier said Bobbitt has a drug addiction.
GoFundMe spokesman Bobby Whithorne said the company is working with law enforcement to ensure that Johnny Bobbitt gets all the money raised for him.
