Judge Orders NJ Couple To Hand Over Money They Raised For Homeless Man
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – A judge has ordered a New Jersey couple to hand over money they raised for a homeless man. The couple originally began a GoFundMe to help Johnny Bobbit, a homeless man, after he shared his last $20 to help Katie McClure, who was stranded in Philadelphia.
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McClure had gotten stranded on I-95 in Kensington when Bobbit came to the rescue despite struggling himself. To thank him, McClure and her boyfriend, Mark D'Amico, launched a GoFundMe campaign that raised more than $400,000.
However, in a lawsuit filed by Bobbitt, he accused the couple of mismanaging a large portion of those donations.
On Thursday, a judge granted a temporary restraining order to force McClure and her boyfriend to turn the money over to Bobbit through their lawyers. That money will be put into a trust.
Officials say the couple had mixed the GoFundMe money with their own. They also claimed to have given Bobbit $200,000, but his attorney says that he only received $75,000.
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"I'll be completely surprised if they spent $200,000 on Johnny Bobbitt," said Chris Fallon, the attorney for the homeless man.
The judge has frozen the money and it will essentially be in limbo in a trust until the case is sorted out.
When the scandal broke, the couple said they were worried about giving Bobbitt the money because he might use it to buy drugs.
In ten days, the couple is expected to give an account of exactly how the money was spent.