A South Jersey couple who raised $400,000 for a homeless man have been ordered by a judge to pay the full amount to the man in less than 24 hours.
The couple, Kate McClure, 28, and Mark D’Amico, 35, raised the money for the man through a GoFundMe campaign that went viral last fall. The couple started the campaign, after the homeless man, Johnny Bobbitt Jr., gave McClure his last $20 when she ran out of gas and was unable to pay. Bobbitt, a veteran, was living under a bridge at the time.
Bobbitt’s lawyers claimed that McClure and D’Amico kept the money for themselves and were spending it on a lifestyle which they could not normally afford.
In her ruling, Superior Court Judge Paula T. Dow stated that, “the funds should be removed from [D’Amico’s and McClure’s control] and frozen.”
While The amount of money remaining from the $400,000 is currently unknown, the couple’s lawyer, Ernest E. Badway stated that approximately $200,000 had already been paid to Bobbitt. D’Amico told a reporter that $200,000 remained while more recently he told told NBC Today host Megyn Kelly that more than $150,000 was left.
One of Bobbitt’s pro bono lawyers, Christopher Fallon, told the judge that Bobbitt had received closer to $75,000. A forensic accountant will be hired and tasked with establishing where the money went within 10 days.
