Yet another crowdfunding fraud
Source: Sasun Bughdaryan en Unsplash
Johnny Bobbitt: Two admit GoFundMe hoax about homeless man
A homeless man and a New Jersey woman have admitted concocting a hoax feel-good story that drew more than $400,000 (£300,000) in GoFundMe donations.US military veteran Johnny Bobbitt, 36, pleaded guilty in court to conspiracy to commit money laundering. Katelyn McClure, 28, admitted wire fraud.
They claimed Bobbitt gave McClure his last $20 when her car ran out of petrol near Philadelphia in November 2017.
More than 14,000 people from across the world donated money.
The bogus Good Samaritan story was posted by McClure and her then-boyfriend Mark D'Amico, 39.
Bobbitt, McClure and D'Amico still face additional state charges of theft by deception and conspiracy to commit theft.
The couple had become acquainted with Bobbitt about a month before the hoax during their trips to a casino, investigators said.
The story melted hearts around the world, but began to unravel once the trio began media appearances, gushing about the outpouring of online support for Bobbitt.
McClure sent a text message to a friend acknowledging the story was "completely made up".
Instead of using the money to help Bobbitt, officials say the couple spent it on a BMW, a New Year's trip to Las Vegas, visits to Disney theme parks and designer hand bags.
The couple allegedly withdrew over $85,000 at casinos in Las Vegas, Atlantic City and a Philadelphia suburb.
Bobbitt, a homeless drug addict, later sued the couple, saying he did not get his fair share of the donations.
He said he only received $75,000, including an $18,000 trailer bought for him and parked at the couple's home.
The lawsuit spurred prosecutors to take a closer look, and led to the criminal charges.
McClure is facing 33 months in prison, while Bobbitt could face a custodial term of between six and 30 months, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Bobbitt will learn his sentence later this week from a drug court, which allows addicts to receive rehabilitation rather than a criminal sentence.
Mark D'Amico is also facing charges of criminal trespass after McClure's family accused him of refusing to leave the home they shared after their romantic break-up last August.
Would you ever give money to a crowdfunding cause?
Do you remember the Nadia case?
A few years ago a woman in the UK used Go Fund Me to raise money for a mugging victim. The story dragged on and the woman most likely ended up regretting it all.
Comments
Johnny Bobbitt, a US military veteran and a homeless drug addict, and Katelyn McClure invented a story that melted hearts around the world. The bogus Good Samaritan story was posted to people from across the world donate money. More than 14,000 people took the bait. Bobbit, McClure and her boyfriend, Mark D´Amico, received a lot of money, more than $ 400,000, and they spend it at casinos, buying cars and enjoying of trips and theme parks. Then, Bobbitt thought that he received only about $ 100,000 and that this amount was a bit. He sued to other accomplices because he wanted to receive more money. Suddenly, the prosecutor discovered the pastel (fraud). Everybody went to prison.
I wonder, how many cases, like these, there are in the world. I remember the Nadia case. It was so miserable. The worst is not that they deceive us, but that the worst is that you donated money to injure to people. I remember when we did donations to African´s countries, in the past, and after it we knew that the government of these countries spent these donations to crush people. It was a bit mistake. I felt very bad.
We must ask much information before giving money to a crowdfunding cause, if you are misinformation you can injure people and it would be a serious problem. In this case, instead of help to people, you became their persecutor.
See you.
I'm in two minds about this one.
On the one hand, crowdfunding makes it easier for people to help others but on the other hand, we sometimes have to question whether the cause is a genuine one. Even those who set up a crowdfunding for complete strangers (see the story about the mugged pensioner) may have ulterior motives.
I think we live in a world where day-to-day kindness to each other has all but disappeared.
Johnny Bobbitt, a US military veteran and a homeless drug addict, and Katelyn McClure invented a story that melted hearts around the world. The bogus Good Samaritan story was posted to people from across the world so that they would donate money. More than 14,000 people took the bait. Bobbit, McClure and her boyfriend, Mark D´Amico, received a lot of money, more than $400,000, and they spent it at casinos, buying cars and enjoying trips and theme parks. Then, Bobbitt thought that he had received only about $100,000; he hadn't received his fair share. He sued his accomplices for more money. Suddenly, the prosecutor discovered the fraud ("pastel" doesn't mean fraud). Everybody went to prison.
I wonder how many cases like these there are in the world. I remember the Nadia case. It was so miserable. The worst thing is not that they deceived us, but that they ... (not clear what you mean here). I remember when we used to make donations to African countries, and then we found out that the government of these countries used the money to crush people. It was a bit mistake. I felt very bad.
We must ask for a great deal of information before giving money to a crowdfunding cause, if you mislead people, you can do a lot of damage and it would be a serious problem. In this case, instead of helping people, you became their persecutor.