Johnny Bobbitt will get his full $400,000, GoFundMe says

[steve2470]

Source: Philly.com

Johnny Bobbitt Jr. will get his $400,000.

GoFundMe and Cozen O'Connor, the Philadelphia law firm representing Bobbitt, announced Thursday evening in a joint statement that he will receive an amount equal to the balance of the funds he did not get from the online fund-raiser set up for him in November. The campaign was established to aid the homeless man whose story of helping a stranded motorist in Philadelphia inspired thousands of people to contribute.

What happened to the actual donations is now under a criminal investigation made public in dramatic fashion Thursday when police executed a search warrant at the Burlington County home of Kate McClure and Mark D'Amico. They launched the online plea for Bobbitt, a 35-year-old North Carolina native living under an I-95 ramp, who spent his last $20 to help McClure when she ran out of gas in Kensington late one night last fall.

"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 from. GoFundMe's goal has always been to ensure Johnny gets [the] support he deserves," said the statement, which was sent to reporters by Bobby Whithorne, director of North America communications for GoFundMe.



Read more: http://www2.philly.com/philly/news/breaking/johnny-bobbitt-jr-gofundme-money-kate-mcclure-mark-damico-20180906.html

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Police raid South Jersey home of couple accused of stealing GoFundMe money from homeless Johnny Bobbitt

http://www2.philly.com/philly/news/breaking/johnny-bobbittt-jr-gofundme-money-kate-mcclure-mark-damico-search-warrant-south-jersey-florence-20180906.html

The Burlington County Prosecutor's Office has launched a criminal investigation into $400,000 in missing GoFundMe donations collected to help Johnny Bobbitt Jr., a homeless man whose kindness to a stranger touched hearts across the nation and beyond.

On Thursday morning, law enforcement officials searched the Florence Township home of Kate McClure and Mark D'Amico, who set up the campaign for Bobbitt after he used his last $20 to buy gas for McClure when her car stalled on an I-95 overpass near Kensington last year.

The campaign was wildly successful, attracting more than 14,000 donations. But the couple's stated plans to buy Bobbitt a home and set up two trusts to ensure his financial independence quickly dissolved, and Bobbitt accused them of squandering the money and spending it on vacations and a new car. He sued them to try to recover the donated funds, but earlier this week, a lawyer for the couple said the money was gone.

Early Thursday, Florence Township police and investigators from the Burlington Prosecutor's Office executed a search warrant on the couple's home, confiscated several bags of evidence, and towed away the couple's BMW.

[ProudLib72]

1. The McClure's are plain old thieves

They defrauded 14,000 people. I say put them in prison and give Bobbitt their home.

[joshdawg]

6. That's got my vote!

[safeinOhio]

16. and BMW

[3Hotdogs]

17. AW, FUCK ! They took the Beemer? Not the Beemer !!!

[getagrip_already]

35. yeah, but it was defective anyway...

it had a MAGA and a Trump/Pence 2016 bumper sticker...

[Obvious85]

2. They do charity the way Trump does charity

All Proceeds All For Himself

[SunSeeker]

4. Bingo. nt

[Power 2 the People]

3. How can people be so cruel?

Especially in a case that achieved such national attention. Greedy and stupid.

[ansible]

5. He did receive $75k which he also wasted completely

Understandably Kate McClure's concerns were real that he couldn't handle all the money, but then they managed to fuck up even worse by stealing the rest of the money instead.

[obamanut2012]

32. wrong

[xor]

48. I'm pretty sure I read a thing about these folks before this all broke

and he even admitted that he spent a fair amount of money on drugs. Doesn't excuse what these people did to him, but he does have a disease and needs this money to be managed for him until he can get on the path to recovery.

[Codeine]

25. Money makes people do stupid shit.

Watch even a middling inheritance tear a family apart and you’ll see what I mean.

[TexasBushwhacker]

7. The problem is that GoFundMe allows campaigns to go over their goals

The original goal was to raise $50K for him, but they let the funds pile up. That never should have happened. Of course, GoFundMe gets their cut, so they like it when campaigns go viral.

[BigmanPigman]

8. Good point.

[Bengus81]

23. Except anyone who contributed can now demand a refund,hell I would

Let Go Fund Me eat this one all the way..........

[Honeycombe8]

9. Grifters. I hope they go to prison, where they belong. nt

[Sherman A1]

21. I would much rather they be forced to pay back every dime

Through seizure of their assets and wage garnishments. Let them lose their fancy car and house and find a nice little inexpensive apartment that they can get by in while half their paychecks go to unscrewing what they did.

[Larrybanal]

27. hopefully their little apt has bars

[Honeycombe8]

30. They lost the car. Don't know what happened to it.

Yeah, I'd go for that...having to pay monthly payments to him for the rest of their lives.

[csziggy]

33. The cops already towed off the BMW they bought with Bobbit's money

I'd bet they are underwater on their house, have no savings, and owe every penny of their paycheck(s) before they get them.

Garnishing their paychecks might be a good lesson for them in the long run, though I sort of hate that they could benefit by this in anyway.

[KWR65]

10. But did the couple actually break the law?

They started a gofundme to raise $50k for Bobbit then they raised more then that. They gave $75k to him and kept the rest for themselves. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in court. Just sayin...

[JohnnyRingo]

11. If I'd sent money to the cause...

I'd say they broke the law. I wouldn't want to buy them a Beemer.

[PoliticAverse]

12. "Theft by deception"?

Based on what their gofundme page told donors would happen: https://www.gofundme.com/hvv4r-paying-it-forward

[KWR65]

14. Oh. So they were skimming from the beginning.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

20. Yes, it is criminal Fraud. . . . nt

[ToxMarz]

15. Likely they would not have raised $350,000 extra

if people had known they intended to keep anything over the $50,000 goal

[scardycat]

13. Where did all that money go??? n/t

[3Hotdogs]

18. Probably the nearest casino.

[3Hotdogs]

19. My concern is , what happens to Johnny.

It looks like $75 k went up his nose or similar destination.

So he gets $325k. I agree. He should get it. Then what? Does anyone tell him to put $60k away for tax?

Maybe he gets a house for the remainder. How is his future welfare protected? Who pays the property tax and maintenance on the house when the money is gone?

[DeminPennswoods]

22. The law firm should set up an independently managed

trust for him to be distributed after he gets and stays sober. As vet, I'd think he'd be able to get help from the VA, too.

[MosheFeingold]

39. "As vet, I'd think he'd be able to get help from the VA, too."

ROFLMAO.

Sorry. I thought you were serious.

The VA is, and has always, been a noble idea. In practice, it's always been a complete disaster.

I went to the VA once, for a service-related injury. (I was almost deaf in one ear from the concussion of a bomb and I was warned, correctly, that it would get worse as time went on.) I waited 8 hours from my appointment time, eventually being pushed out the door at closing time.

I gave up and spent my own money* on a hearing aid and still do, to this day. This was in the 1970s.


*Eventually I lied and said it wasn't service-related and got it covered by civilian insurance.

I still do have my nifty bakelite purple heart.

[DeminPennswoods]

44. The audiologists at the VA

treated my dad like a king. He got a top-of-the-line hearing aid. I'm sorry you've had a bad experience.

[roody]

46. I know 3 men who get good health care from the VA.

[3Hotdogs]

47. My mother got excellent treatment at the V.A. as a resident for two years,

until she died at age 98.

MY uncle got his hearing aids at V.A. last year. He is pleased with the care he gets there.


Maybe give them another chance.

[RobinA]

26. It Will Have To Be

managed to the dollar until, well...possibly forever. Some addicts find money triggering, even well into sobriety. He needs some big time help, unless the attitude is that it's his money, hand it to him and let the chips fall where they may. I would bet some pretty big money that that would not end well at all.

[Codeine]

28. It will almost certainly go into a trust,

hopefully one overseen by a conservatorship.

[3Hotdogs]

29. I believe the amount is too small for a trust.

Conservative interest would be $15,000 per year. He needs more than that to live on.

The money will be gone in under 10 years unless he gets a job -- highly unlikely.

[csziggy]

34. The attorneys working pro bono mentioned a trust fund for him

In one of the earlier articles about the situation. I'm glad he won't lose all of it to attorney fees and that the firm representing him seems to looking out for his best interests.

I noticed in this article that part of the money "spent for drugs" was for a drug to treat his addiction. More was spent for two stints in drug rehab. So evidently Bobbit was trying to get clean using some of the money that was donated.

[tammywammy]

43. They'll set up a trust. n/t

[RobinA]

24. No One Was Too Smart

in this scenario. Personally, I think they started out with good intentions but when the pot got as big as it did they decided to keep some and it got out of control. Sadly, I doubt this will end well for anyone. Bobbitt is maybe justified in pursuing this, but he is setting himself up down the road. Unless someone is appointed to handle that money who has experience working with addicts. Too many people have this idea that the only thing standing between people living under an underpass and a decent life is money, and this is rarely the case. Not that he can't possibly turn his life around, but he's going to have to have some knowledgeable help if there is to be even a chance of that. Good luck to all.

[eppur_se_muova]

31. Johnny Bobbitt, JUNIOR ??

I guess this proves the surgery was successful ...


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_and_Lorena_Bobbitt

[bullwinkle428]

41. Damn, I wanted to make the joke about not willing to surrender

my manhood for $400,000!

[getagrip_already]

36. lets face it - the real grifters here are GoFundMe.com

Just look at the cut they take on money donated. It's criminal in its own right (well, it should be).

There is no way that admn overhead and a reasonable profit amount to the percentage they take.

[lunamagica]

37. No, the real grifters are the couple. They take all the blame. Perhaps GoFundMe

takes too much (although I read they are reducing their cut now), but it's open, legal, and participants agree to it. There is no crimoe here. But the couple? They are criminals.

[getagrip_already]

38. no, recipients don't get the chance to agree...

If they aren't the ones who set it up.

There is a term for it; Usary. Outdated perhaps, but even credit cards have caps on the percent of interest they can charge.

The site takes money it didn't earn. That's grifting.

Wrapping it up[ in terms and conditions doesn't make it right. Especially if the recipient never agreed to it.

[lunamagica]

40. Recipients aren't forced to take the money if they find GoFundMe offensice to them

they argree when they take the money.

Anyway, the terms have changed.

GoFundMe Will No Longer Take a Cut of Some Donations
The fundraising platform is moving to voluntary tips for personal campaigns.


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GoFundMe, an online fundraising platform, will now offer its services fee-free for new personal crowdfunding campaigns in the U.S., the company announced in a statement on Thursday.

Currently, GoFundMe takes 5 percent of donations, and payment processors take 2.9 percent, along with 30 cents per donation. Under the new structure, the processing fees remain, but GoFundMe will no longer charge a fee for personal fundraising efforts in the U.S. Such campaigns make up the majority of activities on the site, according to the company.

Users will instead have the option to give the company a voluntary tip. The entire donation will go to the beneficiary of a campaign, but a drop-down menu will let those donating add 5 percent, 10 percent, or 15 percent on top of their donation, or a custom amount.

“GoFundMe is always looking for ways to make fundraising easier, faster, and more successful, and this time of year made perfect sense for introducing this pricing structure,” Rob Solomon, GoFundMe’s chief executive officer, said in a statement. “With this 0% platform fee, we will rely on voluntary tips from our donors to help with the costs associated with providing our best-in-class customer service, trust & safety protections, and social fundraising technology.”

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=post&forum=1014&pid=2152864

[getagrip_already]

42. you aren't required to take your paycheck either....

just because your employer takes a service fee for processing it. take it or leave it.

[lunamagica]

45. So, there is an agreement. Did you read the part where they won't charge anymore?