Homeless Vet To Get Rest Of GoFundMe $400K Raised By NJ Couple

A homeless vet from Philadelphia will be made whole again after he failed to receive the $400,000 raised for him through an online fundraiser. A search warrant was executed at the home of the couple who raised the money for him.

Johnny Bobbit Jr. will receive the balance of what was raised for him through a GoFundMe account started by Burlington County residents Kate McClure and Mark D’Amico, Bobbit’s attorney said Friday morning. Exactly how much that is is still to be determined. Bobbit claims he only received $75,000 of the total amount raised, while McClure and D’Amico claim he already received $200,000.

"GoFundMe's goal has always been to ensure Johnny gets support he deserves," a GoFundMe spokesperson told nj.com.

"It’s important to remember that our platform is backed by the GoFundMe Guarantee, which means that in the rare case that GoFundMe, law enforcement or a user finds campaigns are misused, donors and beneficiaries are protected," GoFundMe has maintained since news broke that Bobbit wasn't receiving all the money raised through the campaign.

What is known is that the money’s all gone, according to Bobbit's attorney. McClure and D’Amico launched the fundraiser in November after Bobbit gave McClure spent his last $20 to help her get gas after she broke down on I-295 on her way to Philadelphia.

A total of $400,000 was raised, but after GoFundMe’s fees, Bobbit’s attorney, Chris Fallon, estimates that the total is closer to $360,000. GoFundMe has already placed $20,000 into an account created by Bobbit's legal team.

Fallon said McClure and D’Amico deposited some of the money into an account for Bobbit and bought him some clothes. Fallon has said the goal is to help Bobbit recover the rest of the money he is owed, and to get help for an addiction problem he developed in North Carolina. D’Amico cited the problem as part of the reason he was holding onto the money and preventing Bobbit from accessing it.

What happened to the rest of the money is now the subject of a criminal investigation. The Burlington County Prosecutor's Office and the Florence Township Police Department executed a search warrant at McClure and D’Amico’s home in Florence on Thursday, although no charges have been filed yet.

“I give credit to GoFundMe for stepping up and doing the right thing,” Fallon said. “I don’t think a lot of businesses would’ve done that.”

Fallon represents Bobbit in a separate, civil lawsuit, and is not involved in the criminal investigation in any way. GoFundMe has said it is assisting in the criminal investigation.

In relation to the civil suit, it has been revealed that D’Amico sent Bobbit a text message after the couple went on national TV and said there was still $150,000 in the account.

“Yo, I say I get rid of my team of lawyers, you get rid of yours, and Kate and I write you a check. Seriously,” D’Amico said in the text message, according to 6 ABC. “They're gonna put it in a trust man. You're gonna end up with nothing.”

Later in the week, Fallon learned that all the money is gone.

GoFundMe has also announced it is waiving part of its refund policy in this instance in an attempt to make it easier for those who donated to the campaign to get their money back, according to Philly.com.

It is waiving a portion of its guarantee policy that says donors only have 30 days to claim contributions up to $1,000 if it determines that donations were misused, according to the report. Users can submit a claim to receive the benefits at gofundme.com/guarantee.

Read more here: Homeless Man Will Pay It Forward After Woman Raises $380K For Him
Read more here: Timeline: How $400K For Homeless Man Went From Uplifiting To Ugly

Photo courtesy of GoFundMe, a promotional partner of Patch.