Lawyer Says Indictment Likely For NJ Couple In GoFundMe Case: Rpt

The attorney representing the South Jersey couple that at the center of a criminal investigation involving a homeless veteran and $400,000 in missing GoFundMe money reportedly believes one or both of his clients will end up being indicted. If that happens, Ernest Badway says he will no longer represent Kate McClure or Mark D’Amico in a civil suit.

His comments surfaced in his most recent response to a civil suit that has been brought against the Burlington County couple by Johnny Bobbit Jr., a homeless veteran who had been living on the streets of Philadelphia when he first helped McClure last year, according to published reports.

Badway wrote, in part, “since it is expected that one or both of the defendants will likely be indicted, my firm and I will no longer be able to represent them in this matter,” according to nj.com.

He said that during a search of the couple’s home in Florence on Thursday, Sept. 6, the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office and the Florence Police Department seized everything of value, including bank statements, according to the report. This would make it impossible to provide an account of how the money was spent, as has been requested by Bobbit’s attorney Chris Fallon.

As a result, the judge in the civil matter has put a temporary freeze on that litigation, according to the Burlington County Times. The new date for the next hearing is tentatively set for Dec. 7.

Fallon had requested an accounting of what happened to the nearly $400,000 that was raised through the online fundraiser launched by McClure and D’Amico after his client reported that he only received $75,000 of the total amount raised. Fallon estimates that after GoFundMe fees, Bobbit should’ve received about $360,000.

McClure and D’Amico said Bobbit received about $200,000 of what he was owed. Both sides have said he didn’t receive the whole amount, and Badway later admitted that all the money was gone.

The story took a turn when law enforcement executed a search warrant at McClure and D'Amico's home last week. No criminal charges had been filed as of Monday evening.

GoFundMe has already placed $20,000 into an account created by Bobbit's legal team, and has promised Bobbit will receive all the money he is owed.

McClure and D'Amico launched the fundraiser in November afterBobbit spent his last $20 to help McClure get gas after she broke down on I-295 on her way to Philadelphia.

While the homeless vet and the New Jersey couple were on the same side of a feel-good story around Thanksgiving time last year, this year sees Bobbit looking to get into a treatment facility to help with a drug addiction he’s battled since he lived in North Carolina while McClure and D’Amico could be facing criminal charges.

Read more here: Timeline: How $400K For Homeless Man Went From Uplifiting To Ugly

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