It sounded like a tale: an American woman got in a problem with her car, a homeless man helps her with his last money. With this story, the young woman collected donations for her “savior”. Around 400,000 US dollars came together. But now the dizziness has flown.
Kate McClure, her boyfriend Mark D’Amico, and the “homeless” Johnny Bobbitt made headlines around the world about a year ago. Back then, McClure stated that Bobbitt had given her his last money to buy fuel for $20 when she was stuck with her car on a highway late at night. To thank her “savior”, the 29-year-old launched a fundraiser for the homeless along with her partner – bringing in a total of $400,000.
As it turned out, the touching hero story was fictitious. “The story sounded too good to be true,” Burlington County attorney Scott Coffina told US media. “The entire fundraising campaign is based on a lie.” The trio met in October 2017 in a casino in Philadelphia, just before they made the story.
The group could lie, initially suspected nobody. It was not until Bobbitt filed a complaint in August that the case started rolling. He claimed that he had never received the money that was collected for him. Instead, McClure and D’Amico had already squandered half for a BMW, holidays and casino visits.
The couple had their own version of the story. They spent half of the money on Bobbitt’s caring, but the two did not have the evidence. Instead of a house, they bought Johnny a camper and a used SUV, which were parked on the property of their family and now sold again. They gave $25,000 in cash to the 35-year-old, but he spent that money on friends and drugs. Therefore, they would keep the remaining amount.
An indictment has been filed against McClure, D’Amico and Bobbitt, the broadcaster NBC10 reports. The trio now has to answer for conspiracy and theft by deception in court.
