A New Jersey company under investigation for allegedly taking the majority of $400,000 worth of donation money meant for homeless veteran Johnny Bobbitt Jr. will likely face indictment, their lawyer says.
CBS News reports that Ernest Badway, the attorney who represented Kate McClure and Mark D’Amico, stated in a letter on Thursday that not only will one or both them likely be indicted by the Burlington County prosecutor, but that his firm no longer represents them.
“(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 continue our representation of them in this matter,” Badway, who asked the judge to pause the civil suit said.
Last week, Burlington County Prosecutor Scott Coffina said that the couple would be criminally investigated, but as of Tuesday, no criminal charges have yet been filed. Both McClure and D’Amico denied doing anything wrong.
VIDEO: Timeline of Johnny Bobbitt's GoFundMe saga https://t.co/yToeu1isyz pic.twitter.com/pNbRm0u1sU
— Philly News Now (@phillynewsnow) September 11, 2018
As CrimeOnline previously reported, McClure, a Bordertown woman Bobbit spent his last bit of money on when she ran out of gas on an interstate, started spending donation money meant for Bobbit almost immediately after depositing the donations. Jacqueline Promislo, a Philadelphia-based lawyer representing Bobbitt said it wasn’t just McClure spending the money, but also McClure’s boyfriend, Mark D’Amico.
“They went on shopping sprees,” Promislo told the Post. “[Bobbitt] tells me they had a Louis Vuitton bag and Chanel sunglasses, a new iPhone 10….I know they spent a lot of money, [but] until we have a forensic accountant go through it, I can’t say that they spent his money. But now that they say there is no money, where did it go?”
romislo said that she felt the couple gave Bobbitt around $68,000, leaving $300,000 after GoFundMe fees.
“There is in my mind about $300,000 that was raised for Johnny that he doesn’t have — and that they now say they don’t have.”
Promislo added that Bobbitt is a “sweet” person who, despite the current circumstances, still talks positive of McClure.
“Even [Friday], he said to me—- when we were meeting and going over his bank account — he said, ‘You know, Kate’s a very nice woman. I said, ‘You were also given very little money when you were living in a trailer in her driveway.”
Bobbitt’s story made national headlines last year after he gave his last $20 to McClure after she ran out of gas while on Interstate 95 in Kensington, Pennsylvania. While McClure waited inside her car, Bobbitt, who told her the area is unsafe and to lock her doors, walked to a nearby gas station, bought a red gas can and filled it with gas. He then brought the gas can back to McClure’s car and filled the tank.
Afterward, McClure and her boyfriend, Mark D’Amico, created a GoFundMe fundraiser for Bobbitt, in an attempt to repay him helping McClure. The fundraiser ended up attracting around 14,000 people who donated $400,000, specifically to help the homeless veteran obtain a home, transportation, and a new start in life. Yet, according to Bobbitt, the couple kept the majority of donations to themselves.
