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‘Feel good story was a sham’! New Jersey couple Mark D’Amico and Katie McClure, homeless man they pair helped with crowd funding, charged in $400K GoFundMe hoax

&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"wpcnt">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"wpa">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<span class&equals;"wpa-about">Advertisements<&sol;span>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"u top&lowbar;amp">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<amp-ad width&equals;"300" height&equals;"265"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; type&equals;"pubmine"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; data-siteid&equals;"109460728"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; data-section&equals;"1">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;amp-ad>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div><h3><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;999999&semi;"><strong><em>&&num;8216&semi;No honor among thieves&&num;8217&semi;<&sol;em><&sol;strong><&sol;span><&sol;h3>&NewLine;<h6><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;000000&semi;"><strong>Heartwarming story of a couple from Florence Township&comma; New Jersey whose GoFundMe campaign raised over &dollar;400&comma;000 was a hoax<&sol;strong><&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<h6><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;000000&semi;"><strong>The scheme was supposed to lift a homeless veteran out of poverty was &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;completely made up … <&sol;strong><&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<h6><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;000000&semi;"><strong>The perpetrators aimed to make people feel bad&comma;” prosecutors revealed Thursday<&sol;strong><&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<h6><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;000000&semi;"><strong>Mark D&&num;8217&semi;Amico&comma; 39&comma; his 28-year-old girlfriend Katie McClure and &&num;8216&semi;Homeless man&&num;8217&semi; Johnny Bobbitt were all three charged with with conspiracy and theft by deception in the massive scam<&sol;strong><&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<h6><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;000000&semi;"><strong>McClure and D’Amico started the online crowd funding drive Nov 2017 <&sol;strong><&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<h6><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;000000&semi;"><strong>Vagrant Johnny Bobbitt&comma; 35&comma; allegedly spent his last &dollar;20 to buy McClure a tank of gas when her car broke down along I-95 outside Philadelphia<&sol;strong><&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<h6><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;000000&semi;"><strong>The heart-tugging tale worked&comma; donations poured in for Bobbitt&comma; the viral campaign netting over&dollar;400&comma;000<&sol;strong><&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<h6><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;000000&semi;"><strong>The plot started to cracking over the summer&comma; when Bobbitt&comma;  sued McClure and D’Amico&comma; claiming that he saw only about &dollar;75&comma;000<&sol;strong><&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<h6><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;000000&semi;"><strong>The pair&comma; neither holding down high paying jobs&comma; allegedly blew the rest on splurges including a new BMW and designer shoes<&sol;strong><&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<h6><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;000000&semi;"><strong>They were also reported to have withdrawn over &dollar;85&comma;000 in cash from ATMs at or near casinos ranging from Atlantic City to Las Vega<&sol;strong><strong>s<&sol;strong><&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<h1><&sol;h1>&NewLine;<div id&equals;"featured-image-wrapper">&NewLine;<h6 class&equals;"wp-caption-text featured"><strong><img class&equals;"alignnone wp-image-301663" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2018&sol;11&sol;Mark-DAmico-and-Katie-McClure-4&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Mark D'Amico and Katie McClure 4&period;jpg" width&equals;"718" height&equals;"476" &sol;>New Jersey couple Mark D&&num;8217&semi;Amico &lbrack;left&rsqb;&comma; and Katie McClure have turned themselves in over their crowd funding scam<&sol;strong><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<div>The feelgood story of a New Jersey couple whose <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;2018&sol;09&sol;01&sol;judge-orders-new-jersey-couple-kate-mcclure-and-mark-damico-accused-of-stealing-some-of-the-400000-they-raised-for-a-homeless-man-to-hand-over-the-remaining-funds-and-show-proof-of-where-it-was&sol;">GoFundMe campaign raised over &dollar;400&comma;000 <&sol;a>to lift a homeless veteran out of poverty was &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;completely made up … to make people feel bad&comma;” prosecutors revealed Thursday&comma; as all three were charged with the massive scam&period;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"entry-content entry-content-read-more">&NewLine;<p>The threads of the scam were undone by the eagerness of one of the participants who texted a friend&comma; copping to the whole ruse&comma; as soon as the crowd funding campaign went live on GoFundMe&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;<strong>Related&colon;<&sol;strong> <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;2018&sol;09&sol;01&sol;judge-orders-new-jersey-couple-kate-mcclure-and-mark-damico-accused-of-stealing-some-of-the-400000-they-raised-for-a-homeless-man-to-hand-over-the-remaining-funds-and-show-proof-of-where-it-was&sol;" rel&equals;"bookmark">Judge orders New Jersey couple&comma; Kate McClure and Mark D’Amico&comma; accused of stealing some of the &dollar;400&comma;000 they raised for a homeless man to hand over the remaining funds and show proof of where it was spent<&sol;a><br &sol;>&NewLine;<a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;2018&sol;09&sol;01&sol;judge-orders-new-jersey-couple-kate-mcclure-and-mark-damico-accused-of-stealing-some-of-the-400000-they-raised-for-a-homeless-man-to-hand-over-the-remaining-funds-and-show-proof-of-where-it-was&sol;"><img class&equals;"attachment-loop wp-post-image alignleft" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;i0&period;wp&period;com&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2018&sol;09&sol;Johnny-Bobbitt-left-seen-with-Mark-DAmico-and-Katie-McClure-right-2-1&period;jpg&quest;resize&equals;174&percnt;2C131&amp&semi;ssl&equals;1" sizes&equals;"&lpar;max-width&colon; 174px&rpar; 100vw&comma; 174px" srcset&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;i0&period;wp&period;com&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2018&sol;09&sol;Johnny-Bobbitt-left-seen-with-Mark-DAmico-and-Katie-McClure-right-2-1&period;jpg&quest;resize&equals;174&percnt;2C131&amp&semi;ssl&equals;1 174w&comma; https&colon;&sol;&sol;i0&period;wp&period;com&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2018&sol;09&sol;Johnny-Bobbitt-left-seen-with-Mark-DAmico-and-Katie-McClure-right-2-1&period;jpg&quest;resize&equals;300&percnt;2C225&amp&semi;ssl&equals;1 300w&comma; https&colon;&sol;&sol;i0&period;wp&period;com&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2018&sol;09&sol;Johnny-Bobbitt-left-seen-with-Mark-DAmico-and-Katie-McClure-right-2-1&period;jpg&quest;resize&equals;70&percnt;2C53&amp&semi;ssl&equals;1 70w&comma; https&colon;&sol;&sol;i0&period;wp&period;com&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2018&sol;09&sol;Johnny-Bobbitt-left-seen-with-Mark-DAmico-and-Katie-McClure-right-2-1&period;jpg&quest;zoom&equals;3&amp&semi;resize&equals;174&percnt;2C131&amp&semi;ssl&equals;1 522w" alt&equals;"" width&equals;"74" height&equals;"56" data-attachment-id&equals;"298854" data-permalink&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;2018&sol;09&sol;01&sol;judge-orders-new-jersey-couple-kate-mcclure-and-mark-damico-accused-of-stealing-some-of-the-400000-they-raised-for-a-homeless-man-to-hand-over-the-remaining-funds-and-show-proof-of-where-it-was&sol;johnny-bobbitt-left-seen-with-mark-damico-and-katie-mcclure-right-2-2&sol;" data-orig-file&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;i0&period;wp&period;com&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2018&sol;09&sol;Johnny-Bobbitt-left-seen-with-Mark-DAmico-and-Katie-McClure-right-2-1&period;jpg&quest;fit&equals;786&percnt;2C550&amp&semi;ssl&equals;1" data-orig-size&equals;"786&comma;550" data-comments-opened&equals;"1" data-image-meta&equals;"&lbrace;&quot&semi;aperture&quot&semi;&colon;&quot&semi;0&quot&semi;&comma;&quot&semi;credit&quot&semi;&colon;&quot&semi;ak Mathew&quot&semi;&comma;&quot&semi;camera&quot&semi;&colon;&quot&semi;&quot&semi;&comma;&quot&semi;caption&quot&semi;&colon;&quot&semi;&quot&semi;&comma;&quot&semi;created&lowbar;timestamp&quot&semi;&colon;&quot&semi;1535760489&quot&semi;&comma;&quot&semi;copyright&quot&semi;&colon;&quot&semi;&quot&semi;&comma;&quot&semi;focal&lowbar;length&quot&semi;&colon;&quot&semi;0&quot&semi;&comma;&quot&semi;iso&quot&semi;&colon;&quot&semi;0&quot&semi;&comma;&quot&semi;shutter&lowbar;speed&quot&semi;&colon;&quot&semi;0&quot&semi;&comma;&quot&semi;title&quot&semi;&colon;&quot&semi;&quot&semi;&comma;&quot&semi;orientation&quot&semi;&colon;&quot&semi;0&quot&semi;&rcub;" data-image-title&equals;"Johnny Bobbitt &lbrack;left&rsqb; seen with  Mark D’Amico and Katie McClure &lbrack;right&rsqb; 2" data-image-description&equals;"" data-medium-file&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;i0&period;wp&period;com&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2018&sol;09&sol;Johnny-Bobbitt-left-seen-with-Mark-DAmico-and-Katie-McClure-right-2-1&period;jpg&quest;fit&equals;300&percnt;2C210&amp&semi;ssl&equals;1" data-large-file&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;i0&period;wp&period;com&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2018&sol;09&sol;Johnny-Bobbitt-left-seen-with-Mark-DAmico-and-Katie-McClure-right-2-1&period;jpg&quest;fit&equals;620&percnt;2C434&amp&semi;ssl&equals;1" &sol;><&sol;a><&sol;p>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"mh-excerpt"><strong>Couple accused of stealing some of the &dollar;400&comma;000 they raised for a homeless man through crowd funding are told to hand over the remaining funds and show proof of previous<&sol;strong> <a title&equals;"Judge orders New Jersey couple&comma; Kate McClure and Mark D’Amico&comma; accused of stealing some of the &dollar;400&comma;000 they raised for a homeless man to hand over the remaining funds and show proof of where it was spent" href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;2018&sol;09&sol;01&sol;judge-orders-new-jersey-couple-kate-mcclure-and-mark-damico-accused-of-stealing-some-of-the-400000-they-raised-for-a-homeless-man-to-hand-over-the-remaining-funds-and-show-proof-of-where-it-was&sol;">&lbrack;&&num;8230&semi;&rsqb;<&sol;a><&sol;div>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"mh-excerpt">The couple&comma; who officials said were hard up for cash themselves&comma; had actually known Bobbitt for at least a month&comma; occasionally spotting him &dollar;10 or a cup of coffee as he panhandled near an underpass by Philly’s SugarHouse Casino&comma; the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office said in a Thursday press briefing&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Kate McClure and Mark D’Amico started the online fund drive in November 2017&comma; claiming that vagrant Johnny Bobbitt had spent his last &dollar;20 to buy McClure a tank of gas when her car broke down along I-95 outside Philadelphia&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;It was off the same exit ramp to the casino that McClure and Bobbitt posed for a touching photo together after Bobbitt supposedly came to her rescue with the gas money — which officials now say was anything but spur-of-the-moment&period;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<h6><strong><img class&equals;"alignnone wp-image-301664" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2018&sol;11&sol;Johnny-Bobbitt-3&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Johnny Bobbitt 3&period;jpg" width&equals;"648" height&equals;"769" &sol;>&&num;8216&semi;Homeless man&&num;8217&semi; Johnny Bobbitt &lbrack;photo&rsqb;&comma; was in on the scam from the get go<&sol;strong><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<p>Less than an hour after the couple’s &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Pay It Forward” campaign went live on GoFundMe&comma; McClure texted a friend&comma; copping to the whole ruse&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Okay so wait the gas part is completely made up … But the guy isn’t&comma;” she wrote&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;I had to make something up to make people feel bad … So&comma; shush about the made up part&period;”<br &sol;>&NewLine;The heart-tugging tale worked&comma; as donations started pouring in for Bobbitt&comma; with the viral campaign’s haul eventually blowing past &dollar;400&comma;000&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;But the plot’s feel-good veneer started to crack over the summer&comma; when Bobbitt&comma; 35&comma; sued the Florence Township couple&comma; claiming that he saw only about &dollar;75&comma;000 as McClure&comma; 28&comma; and D’Amico&comma; 39&comma; blew the rest on splurges including a new BMW and designer shoes&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Additionally&comma; the pair withdrew over &dollar;85&comma;000 in cash from ATMs at or near casinos ranging from Atlantic City to Las Vegas&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h6><img class&equals;"alignnone size-full wp-image-301665" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2018&sol;11&sol;Johnny-Bobbitt-left-with-Kate-McClure-and-Mark-DAmico&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Johnny Bobbitt&comma; left&comma; with Kate McClure and Mark D'Amico&period;jpg" width&equals;"1033" height&equals;"689" &sol;><strong>All three chatged for fraud&colon; &&num;8216&semi;Homeless&&num;8217&semi; Johnny Bobbitt&comma; &lbrack;left&rsqb;&comma; with Kate McClure and Mark D&&num;8217&semi;Amico&period; It turns out the couple&comma; who investigators said were hard up for cash themselves&comma; had actually known Bobbitt for at least a month&comma; before the put the scheme into play<&sol;strong><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<p>D’Amico and McClure countered that they were holding out for Bobbitt’s own good because they accused him of relapsing into his drug addiction&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;They have claimed they’ve spent half the funds on housing and other expenses for Bobbitt&comma; who has been living under a bridge and panhandling&comma; saying they were holding the rest until he’s off drugs&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;The couple turned themselves in to authorities Wednesday&comma; while Bobbitt was arrested in Philadelphia&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;All three are charged with conspiracy and theft by deception&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;D’Amico and McClure were processed and released late Wednesday&comma; while Bobbitt is awaiting extradition to New Jersey&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;All donors who contributed to the campaign will be refunded by GoFundMe&comma; the company announced Thursday&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;

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