Tinton Falls Woman Stole $15K From GoFundMe She Created: Prosecutor

TINTON FALLS, NJ — A Tinton Falls woman set up a GoFundMe page for a friend who'd been badly hurt in a car accident, and then she stole more than $15,000 from it, charges Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond Santiago.

Nicole C. Weidelman, 46, of Tinton Falls, is charged with third-degree theft by deception. She was arrested and charged last week.

Police say that in November 2022, a man she knew was involved in a serious motor vehicle collision on I-95 in Florida. His recovery would be lengthy and costly: The man lost his arm, necessitating a prosthetic, and needed more than a dozen surgeries and a month and a half in the hospital.

Detectives say Weidelman contacted the man’s mother, a longtime family friend, and offered to set up a GoFundMe page to assist with the medical bills.

"But after raising slightly more than $15,000, Weidelman transferred the entirety ... into her own personal account via more than two dozen transactions," said the prosecutor's team.

When asked where the money went, she then provided numerous false explanations to the victims over the course of the next several months. It was the man and his mother who first reported the alleged theft to police, and asked police to investigate.

GoFundMe has taken down Weidelman's fundraising page, and says it has given the $15,000 to the man in need.

“GoFundMe has zero tolerance for the misuse of our platform, and we cooperate with law enforcement investigations of those accused of wrongdoing. We have removed this fundraiser and banned the account from using the platform for any future fundraisers," said a GoFundMe spokesperson. "After learning of this incident, GoFundMe delivered funds directly to the intended beneficiary. In the very rare case that funds are misused, our donors and beneficiaries are fully protected by GoFundMe’s Giving Guarantee.”

Tinton Falls Police Department Detective William Rodriguez led the investigation in this case.